Guilty Act
by PainX65
Summary: Styx, one of the best prisons in the world. Second to only Tartarus itself. It would be fine...if you weren't in this prison filled with convicted criminals of all kinds and guards ready at a moment's notice. You know what they say though, even the best have the worst. SYOC
1. Guilty As Charged

**GUILTY ACT**

* * *

It was all a blur, the judge raised his gavel and hammered it down as he stared right at you, into your soul.

You knew what was coming.

"Guilty." He proclaimed as the murmuring among the jury continued. The prosecutor looked so smug as the defense attorney sighed.

You forget how many years you'd be serving as the judge had one more thing to say to you. "For your crimes, you shall be spending the rest of your sentence in Styx." he narrowed his eyes as you spotted the grip on the gavel loosen. "Be glad it's not Tartarus. Dismissed. Court adjourned." with one another three whacks from his gavel, it was all over.

A brief thought of " _maybe I can escape?_ " went through your mind, but with security, that might be a problem.

"Come on criminal, let's take you to your new home." one of the guards grabbed you and began to pull you away.

Your old life was over. Whatever you've done, whatever happened. It was all stripped away.

A criminal's life was what awaited you.

* * *

The drive to the prison was...quiet. Peaceful even, but that was because you were the only one on the prison bus.

Looking out the window you saw it.

Styx.

One of the best prisons in the world, a high security prison that was on par with Tartarus. Unlike Tartarus however, this prison wasn't for the worst of the worst, it had a wider variety of prisoners: killers, thieves, frauds, vigilantes, villains, etc. Compared to Tartarus, it was pretty much a normal prison. It was still leagues better than any normal prison however.

There was one difference with Styx though with any normal prison, and that was the simple fact that Styx was a co-ed prison. Yes, co-ed.

Styx was split into two halves, the male prison and the female prison. Genders while separated, were able to interact in the middle of the prison. That area was even more guarded than the other areas. Apparently from the briefing as you were on your way, the guard told you a bit about it.

Both halves of Styx had the normal prison requirements: cells, showers, kitchen, gym, outdoor stuff. But in the middle of the prison, where it really shined as it had all of those things (save for the showers), and a bit more variety to them. Like more gym equipment, more food, etc. as well as some extra benefits in terms of clothing, for example.

However, the co-ed areas were more guarded than the other two areas.

Best to stay on your toes, you thought.

The bus came to the halt and your thoughts were back to fact you were a criminal now. Getting off the bus, and being taken to the side of the prison you were assigned to, you saw both male and female guards chatting with each other and the thing that caught your eye was right above you.

Upon entering the prison, you gazed at the logo STYX and under it, it said: Rien Faire.

Rien Faire was apparently the motto for the prisoners, you vaguely remember a guard saying that it was French or something for 'Do Nothing'.

In the assigned changing area, you were forced to put on your prisoner's outfit and before you knew it, you were being lead to your cell.

A guard waved their hand and pulled the cell door open, it...wasn't like a normal cell. It was more of a room with a cell door attached to it. You even got a better look at the guard's uniform. Dark green pants and a buttoned up jacket of the same colour, looked to be more akin to the military than a guard. Knee-high black boots with matching coloured military cap to go with it. It honestly looked more like it came out of the second world war.

The guard gave you a look as you entered your cell. Hearing the locking behind you, you just stood there as the realization seeped in, forcing you to crash onto the bed.

" _You're a criminal._ "

* * *

 **Hey, so uh. Another My Hero Academia story from me, and a SYOC to boot. So without further ado** **. Welcome to Styx! Guilty Act! A story about criminals in prison. I got some of my own characters that I will be placing in here. Below are the rules and form (which will also be on my profile). The deadline is around the end of November, the 30th, for submitting characters before it closes.**

 **Please keep in mind that despite the opening, not all OCs will be immediate prisoners/new arrivals (if they are prisoners), some might actually be in the prison for a couple of years already (also keep in mind, that even though the perspective is from a prisoner, I am accepting guards). Please take your time in creating an OC, I won't be picking any OCs until the deadline passes, so you all got plenty of time.**

 **However if need be, I will be extending the deadline past the 30th. Most likely with an update into sometime in December. Have fun!**

 **[Rules]**

 **#1 - No overly OP characters or the Mary Sue types. Basically, don't make your character a paragon of perfection. It's a prison full of criminals, go wild.**

 **#2 - Please keep your submission in a single PM thread.**

 **#3 - On that, please title your PM: Guilty Act - "You're character's name here.". It makes things easier.**

 **#4 - Now this is an odd rule: no recycled characters. Basically if your OC is in an active story, I won't accept them or if you put them into another story (while this story is going and your character is accepted) I will either not accept them, or that character might fade away from the story without any trace (if accepted). So try to keep your character simply here.**

 **#5 - An extension of the previous rule: if the story your OC is in has been discontinued (for more than six months - a year or longer) or if the creator has specifically said they discontinued the story. (also, please inform me of the discontinued story.)**

 **#6 - Please take note that SYOCs can take a while for chapters to come out. Especially if more than one project is being worked on. (I'm only saying this, due to seeing some people complain that a SYOC discontinued...after a week before the second chapter came out.)**

 **#7 - Please avoid putting OCs in the review section. It spoils the whole character and they will not be picked.**

 **#8 - To make the form a bit cleaner, please remove the parentheses I added.**

 **[Guilty Act Form]**

 **-BASIC-**

 **Name:**

 **Age: (As long as they are legally an adult)**

 **Gender/Pronouns:**

 **Sexuality:**

 **Height and Weight: (only height is really needed, weight is optional)**

 **Nationality and Ethnicity: (while most of them will be from Japan, I can accept a few foreigners)**

 **-PERSONALITY-**

 **Personality:**

 **-APPEARANCE-**

 **Appearance: (general physical appearance, also any tattoos, scars, piercings, etc.)**

 **Criminal Uniform: (basically what type do they wear and how they wear it. Accessories can be applied.)**

 **Normal Clothes: (the clothes they wore before being put in prison)**

 **Guard Uniform: (only fill this in if you're making a guard. The base outfit is above, if you have any alterations to it, please list them here, otherwise, write down no change.)**

 **-BACKSTORY-**

 **History: (your character's backstory and how they ended up in the prison or how they became a guard.)**

 **Crimes/Criminal Record: (what got them put away? There's a lot of reasons~ Only for criminals.)**

 **-QUIRK-**

 **Quirk: (Quirk Name)**

 **Quirk Type: (Mutant, Emitter or Transformation)**

 **Quirk Description: (what can the quirk do? Also, please list any weaknesses the quirk may have as well as some possible strengths. Don't go to overpowered.)**

 **-OTHER-**

 **Romance: (okay, so chances are kind of low that romance might appear in a prison of all things, but it's possible. Also describe what your character likes in a romantic partner, if you say yes. If not interested, say no.)**

 **Role: (Mainly looking for Prisoners and Criminals, but I will accept a few guards.)**

 **Other: (any information I missed? Or anything you wish to add?)**


	2. Protect and Serve

**STYX**

* * *

The smell of coffee hit your nose as one of your work colleagues walked pasting holding a cup of the stuff. That reminded you, it was almost time for your shift to watch over some of the prisoners.

Standing from your desk, you headed out of the break room.

"Hey, did you hear?" you heard one of your fellow co-workers said to another. "Crime outside has been rampant."

"I heard, but have you heard about director Sukuinote?" the other asked back. "I heard that they're visiting next week...or was it next month?"

"I didn't know that, are you sure that's not a rumour?" the guard then froze. "Oh shit, that reminds me. The match is on tonight, you gonna go?"

"Hell yeah I'm going."

You decided to get going, any later and you'd probably get scolded for being late. The match while interesting but you had plans tonight, but whether you actually showed interest was a different matter.

Adjusting your uniform, you walked past multiple cells in your area. Everything seemed to be going fine, at least for now.

You couldn't help but feel like the day was a bit too quiet. However that thought seemed to test fate as you looked down from the floor you were on to see two prisoners duke it out.

You stopped and looked down at the scene before you (or rather beneath you), this thing happened on occasions. Quickly another guard broke up the fight quite easily, no need for you to do anything so far. So you continued walking, thankfully your shift was in the co-ed area of the prison.

You took to your shift's position rather quickly as you mentally prayed that it'd go smoothly. " _I wonder if I should go see the match too?_ " the thought intruded your mind before while you considered changing plans as you soon heard a ruckus and turned to see some prisoners who were a bit too high and mighty, chatting away. They weren't in the co-ed area fully, but...

It baffled you to see how some prisoners retain their dignity or form a hierarchy after being caught and thrown into the slammer. Some of the prisoners gave you a bad feeling, but that was because they were prisoners after all, they committed crimes!

Then again, you could also claim that as human nature.

Even out of work or not even the prisoners themselves, you had someone you disliked. It would be weird if you didn't, unnatural even.

Your thoughts were getting the better of you, so you stopped. It would be bad if something happened and you weren't paying attention.

So you decided to just look around. People watch.

You saw prisoners talking to prisoners, guards talking to guards, prisoners and guards talking to each other, probably about something prison related like who's got cleaning duty or something.

The boring stuff.

Boring.

…

Luckily for you, the prison wasn't boring. Sure it had it's boring bits, but prisoner infighting? You didn't count that as boring. It was a perk of the job.

Guards at Styx could use their quirks to subjugate criminals.

Sometimes you wonder if something new would happen asides from the same old, but hey, you were glad things were easy and simple, if a bit repetitive.

Then the alarm rang. Some prisoners were either trying to escape or trying to kill each other again. So you adjusted your uniform and headed off right where the action was.

Protect and Serve.

* * *

 **Hey, not really the next chapter that introduces the OC, but more of a "hey, this exists" sort of chapter. Anyways, much like the first chapter, this chapter is another second person from the prison guard's perspective sort of thing.**

 **Now this means one of two things, either the deadline is closed or that the deadline is extended.**

 **Well, the deadline has been extended! Especially for those who have still yet to send OCs, now's the time ;) the deadline is now 10th of December. For those who want to send guards, do not send a male warden role (as that is not open) but the female warden position is (for now) as well as a few others at the moment. I look forward to see what you guys have in store both for prisoners and guards. Speaking of OCs:**

 **Thanks to everyone who has submitted a character, and for those who have yet to send in a character, now's the time~. For those who have sent in their characters, keep an eye on your PMs in the next few days. The next chapter will be when this new deadline closes (or afterwards) and we dive straight in. See you all then!**


	3. The River Styx

**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

Styx.

The second best prison in the world. An international prison, accepting criminals from all over the globe as well as hiring guards from each corner of the globe as well.

Most people considered Styx to be the best prison, but it was only outshined by Tartarus and how it kept its prisoners under complete lockdown among a few other factors. The only thing Tartarus didn't have was Styx's ability to house any criminal rather than the worst of the worst.

Styx could house more and did indeed house more inmates than Tartarus. Styx wasn't exactly the first choice for most criminals at times, but when they did get new inmates, they knew how to deal with them.

"It's fine now. Why?" a deep and heroic voice came from a wide screen tv that was hanging on the wall. "For I am here!" the number one hero of Japan grinned a large victorious smile as he saved the day yet again.

"Turn that off." another voice that didn't come from the tv huffed.

"Huh?" the one who was interested in the program turned to look at the one responsible. "But why, Tai?"

Tai's red eyes glanced over to the other guard.

He (Tai), like most guards was wearing the signature Styx guard uniform. The second world war military looking uniform that consisted of dark green pants and a buttoned up jacket that was of the same colour. Also sporting the knee-high black boots with the same matching military cap that shared the same dark green colour.

The fair skinned man's sharp and bright blonde hair blew gently due to the breeze from the aircon.

Tai's sharp eyes narrowed at the other guard. "Heroes are shit." his words were as sharp as his eyes. "They don't truly stop criminals. We stop criminals. We reform them and we have to deal with these criminals on a daily basis. Heroes only deal with them once, and that is when they capture them." Tai crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the image of the number one hero of Japan, basking in the limelight.

He could almost hear what his coworker would say next. Something about their side of the story.

"I still don't understand why you hate heroes, Tai." sighed the other guard wearing the exact same set up, but with a purple hat instead of a dark green one and how loosely the jacket was being worn, revealing a white and purple striped shirt underneath. "With your quirk, you could of easily been a hero."

"And I don't understand why you like them, Osamu." Tai shot back at Osamu. Upon better inspection, the named Osamu had short, neatly trimmed yet messy dark purple hair with a side swept fringe that had a few hairs sticking up in the front. He also had dark red almond shaped eyes with an almost stern looking face with thin black eyebrows and fair white skin. Despite the stern look, he had some baby faced facial features mixed with angular facial features, but also sported two scars: a small scar on the left side of his cheek and a diagonal small scar over his right eyebrow.

Then the intercom on the wall buzzed in within the male guard's area. "Tai Yonamine, please report to the entrance of Styx."

Standing, the blonde pulled down the brim of his hat as he walked away. "See you later, Tai."

"We rarely meet anyway." Tai huffed in response as he left the break room, not slowing down to hear whatever his fellow co-worker had to say. He did hear him sigh however on his way out.

It didn't take too long for Tai to reach the entrance of the prison. "Cutting it close there." the voice of a woman gained Tai's attention.

She was averagely short in stature for where she was from and was rather athletic in build as well as looking quite agile. This new figure also sported a rather developed chest, at least being a D-cup and she looked quite unkempt judging from her body and her dirty nails connected to a pair of old cuts, calluses and bruises on her palms.

At the moment she had a reserved look on her face as she didn't say a word as freckles spread across the bridge of her nose which brought attention to the red in her checks. Her long, unkempt hair burned a small auburn glow on top of a brunette hue, which was cut in a bob cut style haircut. Her bob cut bangs, split in the right side of her face, were definitely long enough to cover her eyes if she chose . At the end of it, her hair was tied into a side ponytail, held with a black scrunchie.

She wore the exact same uniform as he did, with little to no changes asides from the fact the jacket's buttons were undone halfway down to free her bust.

"When called, don't dilly dally. It's unprofessional and—"

"Speak for yourself, Dahlia." Tai scoffed, cutting his younger coworker off. This young woman, and Tai's junior, was Dahlia Pietyr. "Now, why are we here? New inmates?"

She mumbled something under her breath, or rather Tai chose not to actually listen to her. "New inmates. I really hope you know what to do." she sighed, glancing back to her older coworker. "Why you?"

"Shut it." he growled as his narrowing eyes stared out the front of the prison as a bus appeared on the horizon. "They're here."

Dahlia seemed to let out a sigh of her own. "Finally."

The bus was grey in colour, very bleak and lifeless. It got closer and closer to the prison before it finally stopped and the doors of said bus opened up. Letting the new arrivals to the prison out and into the place they would pretty much call home for the rest of their sentence.

There wasn't a lot of new inmates, at least in this group. It was a small group, a very small group.

Only three people got off the bus.

The first was a tall and slim young man with fair skin. Possessing short, spiky black hair and blue eyes wearing a black open jacket with the sleeves torn off with a white, sleeveless t-shirt underneath. He was also wearing a pair of back cargo pants that were tucked into a pair of black combat boots and to fit with his outfit, were the black fingerless gloves he was wearing.

The second was a very pale and glossy skinned girl with a dainty, petite build as she looked to be mildly anorexic. She had relatively large almond-shaped silver eyes and completely straight, lustrous black hair that was cut the shoulder-length on one side and all the way back to her fringe on the other. She also sported a lip piercing and three piercings on each ear.

She was wearing more of a goth-like attire and style, wearing clothes that were either black or very dark grey. This included heavy lipstick and eye-shadow. The main thing of note of her goth style was the black, grim-reaper styled hooded cape that resembled a nightgown and probably was as it looked well-padded and warm.

The third and final figure to come off the bus was another male. He was very tall and very muscular with a sculpted and athletic physique, however it seemed rather unnatural. His black haired was tinged and his possessed neon yellow skin that matched with his amber eyes. His veins were visibly larger and bulged more than other people's veins as well as appearing green. He was wearing a pair of gloves and a pair of goggles over his eyes along with a tracksuit.

Dahlia held up a clipboard that Tai never noticed she had, then again, he never really cared enough to look.

"Jin Nakamura, Demelza Brathwaite and Kagayami Li." she called out the order of names of the three that came off the bus. "Jin and Li, follow Tai. Demelza, you're with me."

She quickly took two of the three forms on her clipboard and shoved them directly into Tai's hands.

"I think I know why we're chosen for this now." said the female guard as she looked over towards Demelza who quickly took to following her, leaving Tai with Jin and Li.

"Tch. Hurry up." he grumbled as the two followed him, but not like how Demelza followed Dahlia as they entered a changing room. "Take off your clothes and get into prison uniforms."

The two got ahead and got changed into traditional looking orange jumpsuits with Li wearing one with short sleeves while Jin wore one with long sleeves as Tai continued to talk. "You can add accessories to your uniforms if you wish." the way he talked was tired and not really caring. "However, depending on both your actions and quirks, you will be forced to wear anti-quirk gadgets to suppress the ability to use your quirks, so it's best for you to be on best behaviour. Any questions?" Of course, he left out the small tidbit that not all quirks could be suppressed. It would be better for them to not know that.

Li stayed fairly silent at that but Jin decided to be the one who would ask a question. "Is there anything we should know?"

Tai grinned in response, it was quite a dark grin. "In Styx, guards like me are allowed to use their quirk to get you inmates to behave, especially if you start getting rowdy and fight your fellow inmates."

"But I thought only heroes can use their quir—"

Tai's laughter cut off Jin quite rudely, the laugh wasn't even a joyful one. If anything, the laugh was more along the lines of a mocking laugh. "I don't care. If I need to use my quirk to put you inmates in place, then I'll gladly do it. You won't be the first or the last, so don't bring up that hero shit. As I said before, Styx guards can do this _legally_. Not to mention there have been other cases of the use of quirks besides heroes before, if a bit uncommon. If you think we won't use our quirks on you like cops or perhaps other guards in different prisons, think again asshole. Cause I'll show you first hand if I need to."

Li glanced back and forth before he opened his mouth, but was rudely cut off before he had the chance to speak. "We cannot give you back any confiscated goods, such as weapons. You'd have to be pretty stupid if you think we'd let that happen." The tall giant shrugged now that his question was answered as the two of them placed their clothes into trays while Tai pressed a button as a gate opened.

The guard then walked forwards. "I'll show both of you to your cells. Welcome to your new home for however long you're serving here. Now hurry up inmates." Tai wanted nothing more than to get this over with.

With nothing else they could do, Jin and Li followed Tai to their new accommodations. "Just one last thing." Tai said, turning his head to face the inmates. "It bears repeating but..."

"If you cause problems to warrant me using my quirk," Suddenly Tai's face looked demonic as his eyes were dancing in madness. His pupils could hardly been seen due to the shrink in size as his grin grew large and devilish, showing off a row of sharp teeth, ready to tear into the inmates at a moment's notice. "I will break every bone in your body."

Safe to say, the message was clear: be on your best behaviour.

* * *

Dahlia looked down at the clipboard and back to Demelza, who was now wearing a traditional prison uniform of a black and white striped outfit, both the ankle-length striped pants and a long sleeved striped shirt. However, she had an added addition to her uniform and that was the black, grim-reaper styled hooded cape and an expressionless black mask that she held in her hands.

"For now you'll be placed into the female ward and if you stay on good behaviour, you'll get access to some special privileges." she carried out is a similar tone to what Tai had as she explained the last thing she had to tell the new arrival before glancing back to the piece of paper with Demelza's information. " _This does explain why I was tasked with the 'Dementress'._ " she thought and glanced back at the new inmate whose eyes seemed to be less bright then before.

"You ready, inmate?" she asked as the masked goth girl looked towards the guard.

"Yes, ma'am!" it was a complete opposite of her goth image. A cheery and bubbly smile with a sunny reply.

Dahlia pressed a button on the wall, next to a gate. Upon pressing the button, the gate opened. "Then I'll show you to your cell." she gestured for the criminal to walk through.

The new arrival followed the guard as she took in the sight of the prison. It was...bigger than what she was expecting. On the bus ride over, she knew Styx was a big prison and had a reputation for being the second best prison in the world. There was also the fact that the guards were allowed to get their hands dirty should the inmates brought up problems.

" _That's...worrying..._ " she briefly thought as she came face to face with her cell.

"Sink it in." she heard the guard, Dahlia called out as she also heard her footsteps get softer. "You're free to go and look around the ward." she added in at the last moment as Demelza was left alone as she watched Dahlia walk away.

"I see Dahlia just dropped you off without showing you much of the prison..."

Demelza quickly turned around to see a woman in her mid forties walk out of her own cell. She was an above-average woman with a busty (much like Dahlia) and hourglass figure as well as a heart-shaped face with milky white skin with a narrow shaped bright green eye. However, it seemed there was some mold or something on the left corner of her face.

She was wearing an closed up orange jumpsuit that was very clean and gave off a professional feel to it. The only real thing that Demelza's eyes took in fully was the fact that over her left eye was an eye patch that was black in colour and seemed to be made of metal.

"Sorry for alarming you." the woman spoke with both class and a warmth to it. She quickly took to smiling like a mother or older sister would do. "If it makes it up to you, I'm Nozomi Tendo."

Demelza was more focused on the eyepatch as she introduced her, it wasn't like the accessory of the mask she had chosen. In fact, the eyepatch seemed forced. "Demelza Brathwaite."

"Wondering about my eyepatch?" she asked. "Don't worry, it's quite a common curiosity among new arrivals."

"Oh, uh, then you don't mind sharing that?" that caused Nozomi to giggle.

"Trust me dear, if I didn't mind sharing I would've shot you down before you even thought to ask about it." Nozomi's words tone was cool and smooth, making sure what she said wouldn't be taken in a different way. "This eyepatch was given to me by the guards of Styx."

"Does that mean...?"

"If you're thinking about a loss of eye, then no. You'd be far off. It's actually quirk suppression."

"Quirk suppression?" Demelza's cheery tone continued, unfiltered. " _They have that technology here?_ "

"Some inmates have some quirks that need to be suppressed, if they can be suppressed. Well, I guess it's better than having the guards getting physical constantly." Hearing Demelza's gulp, she decided to steer the conversation elsewhere. "Come with me, I can show you around the ward and meet some people too."

Demelza happily agreed to this as she was shown around the female ward of the prison. However there was something she was curious in. "What's that way? I don't recall that getting explained to me."

Nozomi turned her head to look. "That's the co-ed area." she briefly explained. "You won't have access to that just yet, you're a new prisoner here."

"When will I be able to get in?"

The older woman shrugged. "Don't know, it depends on your behaviour among other things. Besides, the co-ed area is more tight with procedures with the whole male and female prisoners being together there."

"Anything I should know about?"

She paused for thought. "Just be careful of your fellow inmates. Now, let's go meet some people, alright?"

The masked goth girl smiled under her mask and with a bubbly tone said, "Sure!"

The duo quickly entered what seemed to be the cafeteria for the female ward before Demelza was then brought over to two other women that were sitting at a table in the cafeteria.

"Nozomi..." the first woman took notice and quickly locked onto the new arrival to the prison. "New blood?"

This woman had a slim build with noticeable muscle, she also had short light bluish, grey hair that was styled into a deep, swept back boy cut with eyes that were a striking blue and defined cheekbones. She was wearing the long striped prison uniform, much like Demelza was, but hers was more loose and baggy, mainly the shirt though.

Nozomi nodded. "That's right, Sora. This is Demelza, I was just showing her around." Nozomi then turned back to goth girl. "This is Sora Natsumi, and the other one is Koneko Hirayama."

The second was wearing a hood that covered her head and hid most of her features before Sora grabbed hold of the hoodie. "Come on, Koneko." Sora teased. "Introduce yourself." and with a quick pull, the hoodie came off revealing her features.

She was a short, small chested and curvy girl with relatively normal feminine features except for the pair of cat like eyes and ears. She also possessed a cat like tail and short dark brown hair, with her cat like tail and ears being dark brown as well while her cat like eyes were yellow.

Underneath the hoodie that she was formerly wearing was the same striped prison uniform, but not as baggy as Sora's.

"H-Hello." Demelza barely heard the shy whimper of a hello that came from the cat girl.

"Koneko here has some privileges." Sora teased some more.

"I-It's nothing. I d-don't even know w-why, nya." the shy little cat responded, grabbing hold of her hoodie.

"Aww, her verbal tic came out."

Demelza looked between the two. "And what's the privilege?"

"Clothes mainly, normally she would be wearing her usual clothes along with her hoodie, but she only has one set of clothes that aren't prison garbs." Sora explained. "One day, one of the guards just came up told her she had now had privileges or something."

"I-I don't s-see why i-its a special p-privilege." the girl put her hoodie back on. "I t-think it's j-just clothes p-privileges."

"It has to be something." Sora rolled her eyes. "Maybe some stuff in the co-ed area, maybe."

The oldest woman of the group shook her head before looking at the new blooded prisoner. "Come sit down, we might be here for a while." Nozomi gestured to the empty seat at the table as Demelza's silver eyes lit up a little as she sat down with the others.

* * *

Meanwhile in the male ward, both Jin and Li were shown to their cells before being left to their own devices as the guard that accompanied them walked off.

Jin glanced over to the Li who just left immediately. "Don't talk to me." was the only thing Li had said to him.

"Not like I was really planning on it." Jin mumbled under his breath as his blue eyes gazed over to the main floor below.

There was nothing much else to do but go down into the male ward and explore his new residence and pray for his sentence.

During his walk around, he noticed a guy wearing a white tank top akin to what people would call a wife beater with the striped prison pants but with the white replaced with dark blue and wore a pair of black work boots. As he got closer, he features became more prominent such as the fact he had a strong build.

This man who approached him had a buzz cut, a full beard that was roughly four inches long strong jaw and he looked quite angry as his dull green eyes locked eyes with Jin's own blue eyes. The noticeable thing was the few scars scattered across his body, mainly present on his arms and the scar in his right shoulder that was looked to be caused by a bullet.

"Hey! I haven't seen you before. New arrival?" he asked with broken Japanese, very broken at that.

"I am...who are you?"

"Ah, I'm David Flannegan. Nice to meet you!" David greeted. He was a lot different that his angry looking appearance, that was for sure.

Cautious, Jin gave him a one over as he decided to return the gesture. "Jin. Jin Nakamura."

After a few seconds, David responded. "Nice to meet you Jin. Sorry if this comes off as rude but, you seem a bit young to be in prison."

Jin looked away somewhat as he muttered, "Nineteen." He quickly looked back at the older gentlemen.

"Oh, nineteen? A year younger than me." David then gestured him to follow. "I can show you around if you want. Just be careful of the others."

" _That's a given though, right? This is a prison, after all._ " Jin thought as decided to follow the rather friendly inmate. " _Guess it's better to know someone I guess._ "

* * *

A tall and willowy woman with silvery hair cut into choppy bob cut, a few curves and a small bust walked down the street wearing a black pea coat over a grey sweater and a pair of black pants with a pair of brown leather boots as a red scarf was wrapped around the lower half of her round face. Her amber eyes gazed from the stand of apples over towards the sound of a fight.

The youthful and pale skinned woman heard multiple sounds combat which usually meant one thing: villains and heroes.

It happened way too often.

So the delicate looking woman began to walk away as she took some apples with her skinny arms, walking away from the almost daily occurrence with her long, lithe legs.

* * *

A young woman in her mid-twenties stood in the middle of a room, it was actually an office. She had long and very messy ultra violet hair with a few lavender streaks scattered throughout as she had a lot of long strands sticking from the top and sides of her hair before said hair ended near her lower waistline. She possessed droopy round red eyes surrounded by black winged eyeliner that matched with her fair pale white and clear skin as well as her average skinny physique accompanied by her average B cup. Her fingernails were painted a deep purple colour with white swirls painted on each nail and thin black arched eyebrows, a button nose with some rosy red cheeks.

She was wearing the guard uniform, however hers was much different as the jacket she wore was a dark violet and instead of pants, she wore a skirt version instead. She still retained the knee high black boots and her cap was also changed to match her outfit as it was also dark violet and had black camo print on the design.

However she wasn't along in the room. Sitting behind a desk was a woman with burgundy hair that reached down to her shoulders in length as she wore the standard guard uniform with slight modifications. The first modification was a simple black eyepatch over her right eye which the uncovered left eye was a shimmering gold. The second modification was the black cloak like cape that was draped over shoulders.

The woman was not alone however. There was one last person in the room.

Sitting on a dark green, fancy looking leather couch was a male with chin-length, wavy black hair and a pale of pale lavender eyes. This man was wearing the Styx guard uniform much like the woman, in fact his uniform had the same black cloak that was draped over his shoulders too.

The man was holding some papers while the woman behind the desk was clasped her hands together. "Thank you for coming, Muika."

The violet dressed guard, Muika jolted a little. "I-Is there a reason f-for me to be here, ma'am?"

A small smile graced her face. "It's okay, Muika. It's nothing too important." she began as she tapped on the desk. "Just a possible readjustment of your schedule. Our three new arrivals could possibly need counselling, so I just wanted to inform you of a new schedule should any of these new arrivals require it."

"O-Oh, thank you for i-informing me." Muika mumbled timidly as she bowed politely with a small smile.

The woman, clearly of higher position than Muika smiled. "You know Muika, you should smile more. It really suits you."

Muika jolted up again as she timidly asked, "R-Really?"

"Stop teasing her, Eris." the male said from the couch, joining the conversation.

Eris just rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever you say, Seimei. Besides, that was nowhere near teasing."

The man was Seimei Tokugawa and the woman was Eris Argyris. The male and female warden on Styx respectively.

Muika looked between her two bosses. "Anyways," Eris coughed into her palm. "That is all for today really, Muika. You are free to go, unless you have questions."

"I-I got one, o-or rather two." she shyly brought up. "What if t-they don't want c-counselling and c-can't be r-reasoned with at all? and I'll s-still be accompanied by a-another person, r-right?" the ultra violet haired girl poked her fingers together.

"Yes, you will still be working alongside a fellow guard in case of an emergency if your patient is violent. So don't worry." Seimei was the one who answered that. "Should a worse case scenario occurs, Eris can use her quirk."

"Um, if that's all…I-I'll take my l-leave."

Eris gestured her hands in a way that indicated that she could go. "One last thing before you leave though. I doubt I'll see your brother today, but give him my regards."

"I'll l-let Osamu k-know." and with that, Muika had left back to her usually routine. The male warden glanced from the door and back to the female warden.

"I got an interesting email today."

That got her attention.

* * *

Kagayami walked aimlessly through the prison.

" _Tch._ " he looked around the area. " _Wonder if I can escape?_ " as he looked, thoughts of escaping almost died out completely.

It didn't have a reputation for the second best prison in the world for nothing.

Fixing up the goggles he was allowed to keep, he continued on, looking for something to help as a thought entered his head. " _I wonder if there's one of those prisoner workshops? I might be able to do something there._ "

With that thought, Li's mood improved but it was ruined when he got outside, seeing many of the inmates from the same ward as him. Wondering how many of these other prisoners have strong and flashy quirks.

Turning away, he recalled the area that went unexplored.

The co-ed area.

He had no way of getting inside that place, at least not know.

Walking to a fence, Li placed his hands on it and simply tugged on it. He didn't really want to test out how high or low it would take a guard to come in and intervene, but with the quick push on the tall chain link fence that kept him away from some exercise equipment, he quickly came to realise that it wasn't normal, it was hard to even push it. He wiped his hand after receiving a minor cut. Li then focused his attention on the thick and tall concrete wall that separated parts of the prison, probably in the different wards.

"Seems I need to gain more trust for that to happen." he mused to himself thinking about how he was turned away when he tried to get into the co-ed area earlier while he was now glancing around the outdoor area. "I don't think I'm going to get anything out of this today." and with that, Li headed back indoors.

As Kagayami left, a lonely figure hidden from the sun's rays woke up as their nose seemed to hone in on something while they shifted.

"Seems we have new blood in the prison." the new figure mused as they cracked a smile. "Wonder how they'll taste?"

* * *

 **Big thanks to all those who submitted an OC to Guilty Act! However now sadly the SYOC is now closed...for inmates, unless you have asked for/have an extension or have messaged me about sending in a prisoner (which is like three of you). Other than that, inmates are closed. Thanks for all who sent in OCs and sorry for those who didn't make the cut. Gotta say though, you guys made some good ones.**

 **Not everyone's character was introduced in this chapter, but don't worry. They'll come into play soon~ Gotta keep flow smooth and all that jazz. Anyways, below is the roster for the story, and brace yourself, there's a lot to go through.**

 **INMATE ROSTER**

Rin Yonaga (Assassinkai742)

Reiji Maeda (TheAmazingSwolfie)

Mariko Tsujihara (Lupus Overkill)

Gin Shinoha (Nemris)

Inyoku-Yui Shiro (R3dLuv3Singin)

Jin Nakamura (The Imprisoned of Hell)

Gousen Hikudo (TysonBR14)

Fumma Yoshitsune (alucard deathsinger)

Zuko Yamamoto (WhyDidIDecideToMakeThis)

Sae Kumiza (Despol12)

Ashita Insatsushi (mayurie)

Fushiko Karakuri (Treeja)

Chikuha Ueno (Crimson Spider Lily)

Yua Aoi (Crimson Spider Lily)

Kuroishi Yukimaru (Supreme Kai of Booty)

Koneko Hirayama (Oblivious ninja IJ)

Kagayami Li (SinghSong)

Rhys Dignam (kennysdead)

Nozomi Tendo (JackHammerMan)

Demelza Brathwaite (SinghSong)

Sora Natsumi (Kive660)

Juro Raisa (tobimadaraisawsome666)

Johnny Spade (GreenPolitical)

Akita (AridSun)

Remko Akko (gold crown dragon)

David Flannegan (FinnyFaloulou)

 **GUARD ROSTER**

Dahlia Pietyr (ThalioTP)

Muika Yomaura (Prince PokePersona)

Osamu Yomaura (Prince PokePersona)

 **This is the current roster, and boy its long. I will be keeping guard submissions open for a while longer and those guard submissions are now extended to the 23rd, cutting it close to Christmas (and a second roster will appear for these characters next chapter). So if you want to send in a guard, now's the time. While I'm still accepting roles for guards, I will still be writing the story and future chapters during that extension time, and probably give an after Christmas special or something. However, there are some characters that will appear in the story that will be my OCs, like Tai, Eris and Seimei. Despite the addition of my own OCs, this story is going to focus more on the OCs sent in, think of my OCs as supporting roles.**

 **So those who wants to send in a few guards, feel free. Just remember the date for guards is the 23rd.**

 **Enjoy your time in Styx!**


	4. Bump In The Night

**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

The sun was setting as Li began to return inside with the thought of finding a workshop of some sort, it was probably more of a wood workshop, but he could make it work...hopefully.

He stopped as a shiver went down his spine as he quickly turned his head around the see the setting sun. " _Huh, must be my imagination._ " with that thought, he entered inside the male ward.

A hand gripped the wrist of another hand within the shadows, close to the double doors Li walked in through as the setting sun basked some light on the shadow, but not enough to erase it entirely.

"Calm down." the figure told themselves. "Not now, the sun is still setting."

The figure in the male ward, was clearly a male. He had short black hair that spiked out in several directions as well as having a few small locks of hair falling in front of his eyes, which were a deep blood red.

His prison garbs consisted of a short sleeved white top that was quite common with the orange jumpsuits, but he was also wearing a pair of matching white bottoms that seemed to be similar to the black and white striped pants, but these ones were completely white. The figure standing in the shadows was currently barefoot and was wearing handcuffs that bound him from using his arms pretty much.

The blood red eyes just continued to stare at the double doors before the figure shuffled over to the reinforced chain link fence that guarded the outdoor training equipment.

He pressed his face up against the fence as his tongue slid out of his mouth, entering the space that Li had cut his finger on. His tongue swirled around, licking any and all droplets of blood that was left on the fence.

Not a single spec of blood remained as this black haired figure fell to his knees and smiled blissfully. "Refreshing~" the figure weakly stood up and walked back into the shadows, towards the double doors. "I haven't had blood in a while. Shame." he frowned at the sun that had yet to vanish completely.

"It's not much, but it'll suffice for now. Until the moon rises."

He couldn't wait for the moon to rise, by then he'd be wide awake.

* * *

"So, what was this email you received?" Eris asked, leaning forward in her chair as her exposed eye focused solely on her fellow warden.

Seimei leaned back on the dark green, leather couch. "Well the interesting email was about our little problem. We also got available assistance from Riot Hero, Furore." he placed the papers in his hands on the small coffee table nearby. "However, Furore's assistance was more of a general offer rather than a specific problem."

"I did get some other emails." he revealed. "The first was from our guard on vacation. The second was from our benefactor."

Seimei watched Eris' expression shift from the influx of information.

"That's good. While we don't really need help, the offer is always nice and having it on hand when we need it is great." she clasped her hands together that resembled a prayer as her eyes focused into space for a second before locking eyes once more with Seimei. "And they're coming back? That's great! But what's that about our benefactor?"

"Just that our recent benefactor here wants to schedule another meeting in the future." he watched as Eris sigh.

The female warden rubbed her temples as she glanced towards the window on her right. "That old man."

The male warden stood after spotting the time on the clock. "Well, I believe it's time for me to return to my own office for the time being. It's almost time for my own meeting."

"Right." Eris pulled out a laptop from one of the drawer of the desk and opened it up. "Sei, be sure to send me those emails later."

Seimei smiled as he opened the door. "Sure thing, Eri."

* * *

Muika was currently sorting out the three new files she received as she walked around a room that was padded with soft colours among dimmed lights. A maroon coloured chaise lounge sat in the middle of the room and looked very comfortable to lay on with similar styled and coloured armchair.

The only outdoor source of natural light came from a large window that was covered by a large dark purple curtain that was currently blocking the said source of light (that was almost gone for the day).

The purple clad guard who was more of a counsellor placed the three new files on her desk next to a filing cabinet. This was her job after all.

Counsel the inmates that needed it.

"Hey, it's almost quitting time for you." the voice of Osamu called out as Muika immediately turned to face her older brother. "You should start heading off now."

"I-I'm just putting new files away just now."

Osamu looked around the room that was spruced up by his sister. "I still remember when this room was more grey than anything. You did a good job with the interior."

"Thanks, I quite like it too." she smiled as she glanced back to her brother. "Thanks again for helping me."

Osamu blinked at that. "Nah, that's fine Muika." he gave a short laugh. "You should be thanking our bosses for that."

The purple clad guard put the files on the desk away as she responded, "I guess I should, but you also played an i-important part in that too." The older brother shook his head.

"Come on, it's getting late." Osamu walked out of the room first, leaving Muika behind as she gave one last look to the room before flicking the light switch off, leaving the room in complete darkness.

* * *

Seimei was back in his own warden's office as he looked across from his desk to see a rather new face. "Are you prepared for your first day?" he asked as he got a better look at the new guard.

He was a small and lean individual with short and messy sandy blonde and white hair with two extremely large fennec fox like ears, two round dark brownish hazel eyes, fox like fangs and his facial features had a rather fox like shape. The new guard had slight tanned skin and possessed a bushy fox like tail that was slightly darker in colour than his hair, with the tip of the tail being coloured black.

He was wearing the standard guard uniform, however it was edited and altered for him as it had a hole in the pants for his tail and lacked the guard hat.

"I'm ready, sir." the new guard said with vigour.

Seimei smiled with a shake of his head. "That's good to hear. I'm just sorry you have to start your first shift as a guard during the night."

The foxy guard tilted his head to the side a little a bit confused. "Why's that sir? Wouldn't night shift ease me into the routine?"

The warden leaned back in his chair as a smile graced his face. "That is indeed true Hokori." a finger moved the strand of wavy hair out of the way. "However, at night while there is fewer prisoners, that also means less guards. Now don't get the wrong idea, there's still plenty of guards patrolling at night and security is still the same as the day, but not as much as during the day in terms of guard numbers."

The guard, Hokori, watched as one of his bosses pressed a button that was connected to a phone, probably an intercom of some sort. "Your fellow coworker will be here shortly to show you around."

The doors opened as a new guard walked in. This guard wore the same standard uniform without much change, in fact, it didn't have any addition details and was just the plain old uniform. He was taller than the new guard but was also a bit slender as well. His white hair seemed somewhat spiky as it was confined by the green guard cap, he also possessed a dark skin tone that went well with his white hair as his pale yellow eyes locked onto Hokori.

"Hokori, meet Bunri Shikiri. Bunri, meet Hokori Arashi." Seimei introduced the two. "Bunri will be showing you around the prison on your first shift."

Bunri raised his hand into a simple wave. "Nice to meet ya, Hokori. Glad to have you with us."

"Nice to meet you too!" the fox said rather energetically.

"One last thing, Hokori. While we are dealing with criminals, not all criminals are necessarily bad people. Some don't deserve to live, yet others do. Keep that in mind."

The fox guard saluted once more. "Got it sir." a smile graced the fox-eared guard's face. " _Keep an open mind when it comes to the prisoners, basically. Got it._ "

Within a matter of seconds, Hokori got the basic tour of the place as they walked down the halls. "Most prisoners are in their cells, but there's a few prisoners that have yet to call it a night, mostly those who are more nocturnal due to their quirk. However, the inmates that stay out at night have a curfew and don't have much time to stay up or out long."

"And so it's our job to make sure they follow the rules."

"Bingo."

Bunri led Hokori down a flight of stairs as they passed different cells and even rooms. "We'll introduce you to the other staff later, but that's the prisoner workshop, mainly for woodwork. We also have facilities for when inmates get injured and even a place to counsel them." Bunri continued on before he held out his hand, stopping the new recruit in his tracks.

"What's wro—" the large fennec fox ears twitched. "Oh!"

Bunri sighed. "Guess your first hour into your shift is going to put you right into the action."

Bunri then watched with wide eyes as Hokori ran ahead. Great.

* * *

Li sighed as he walked out of the woodwork workshop. " _Not much in there, but maybe I can make something work, but it seems everything is locked down during the night._ " He couldn't go that far in to begin with.

Noticing that the moon was out, it was time to return to his cell. Yet…

...

He couldn't help but shiver.

Li barely had the time to react as a small cut appeared on his arm as he forced himself to fall to the side.

He was attacked.

Li saw his attacker instantly. The assaulter licked their sharp teeth that drew out Li's blood. "Ah, that's the stuff." the black haired blood addict titled his head back as he licked his lips. "You're blood is different. Something new."

" _Why the fuck did I have to run into a weirdo?_ " Li grumbled mentally as he sent the attacker a narrowed glare. If it was a fight he wanted, it was a fight he was going to get.

"You don't mind if I drink some more, do you?" the attacker dashed towards Li once more, this time Li had more time to react to the sudden attacker.

He was slightly faster than before.

The attacker did not go straight for Li right away, instead choosing to bounce onto the wall and pushing off it, barrelling faster towards Li.

Li, defending himself, threw a punch at the speeding, insane man who not only dodged the punch effortlessly with greater speed, but also flipped over him. "I'm willing to play with my food~." said the clearly insane blood drinker.

"Urgh, I don't have time for thi—" Li found himself on the defensive as the man attacked once more, this time aiming his fangs to get some of his blood.

The blood addict leapt once more, barring his own fangs towards the new arrival in the prison as a pair of feet implanted into the face of the attacker.

"Halt!" Hokori yipped loudly as he jumped off the attacked that was sent to the floor with a well placed kick.

The attacked tumbled somewhat before getting back onto his feet, glaring at this guard he had never seen before.

"Rin Yonaga, stand down and return to your cell now." Bunri called out as he walked onto the scene.

The now named Rin hissed in return. "Give me your blood!" he tried to move forward but was held back by a pair of arms.

"I said, return to your cell, Rin." Bunri said as he held Rin from behind, keeping him in place as he also walked forward towards the inmate.

The original Bunri glanced at his clone and nodded, causing the clone to walk off with Rin.

" _So that's his quirk?_ " Hokori thought as he watched while Li had similar thoughts.

Bunri then took notice of Li. "You, new arrival. It's getting late, return to your cell immediately."

Li put his hands in the jumpsuits pockets as he walked off to go to his cell. That was what he was doing before anyway. Bunri gestured Hokori to follow as they approached Bunri's clone as they threw Rin into his cell.

This was his quirk.

 _Division: A cloning quirk that divides the user in basic terms, but only through the geometric progression such as: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. This also applies to the clones themselves as they can also divide, but is still connected to the original and their geometric progression._

Rin screamed as his cell was locked down for the night. The screaming was aimless and incoherent, the only thing that made sense was the occasional shout for blood. Thankfully his cell deafened it a bit.

"Don't let tonight fool you, Hokori." Bunri warned his junior guard. "Just because you managed to put a stop to a inmate quickly, not all fights will be like that."

The fennec fox guard's ears twitched as he nodded silently.

"I'm also glad that Rin's quirk wasn't at its strongest. His quirk can be difficult to handle at times." Bunri added.

"What about that other inmate?"

Bunri just gave him a smile. "That's what we're going to do now. Make sure he's locked up in that cell of his."

* * *

The night was silent, especially when Rin finally calmed down from his blood fit. Yet, not everyone was sleeping this night.

" _So this is my new life now?_ " wondered one Demelza as she stared up at the ceiling in her cell. Her dull silver eyes couldn't really focus on anything, so she focused on staring at the ceiling.

It was boring, that was for sure.

" _However, I did meet new people._ " Nozomi, Koneko and Sora entered her mind as she thought about it. " _They'd be good to be around._ "

"I wonder how those other two are doing?" she thought back to the only other two she came with on the bus ride over. Li and Jin she recalled. The memories on the bus were silent, and she was fine with that. "Not like I won't see them again with the co-ed area."

Her eyes drifted over to the small, barred window as the moonlight seeped into the cell, illuminating the bed she laid on, and even herself. Demelza picked up the mask she wore today. "Still can't believe I got to wear something like this in here."

As she dropped the mask and stared up at the ceiling once more, her eyelids got significantly heavy. " _...today was a busy day..._ " and before long, she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

It was the crack of dawn as a black boot stepped on the step of the grey bus. The bus driver turned her skeleton skull-looking head towards the new arrival on the bus. "Hey, good to see you again." the bus driver greeted, as she wore the same standard outfit. "Ready to go back?"

"...Yes." the deep voice of the new arrival confirmed.

The bus driver turned back to the road and revved the engine. "Then let's go, back to Styx!"

* * *

 **Hey, Merry Christmas.**

 **I hope you all had a good christmas/holiday, and hope you all enjoy the rest of it to! ^v^ Consider this a christmas gift, maybe. Anyways, here are the rest now that the SYOC is closed (and please, those who have talked to me prior about sending OCs in/those with extensions, time is going to come to a close for those). Please note, that the new inmate is only because of previously mentioned inmate extensions.**

 **INMATE ROSTER**

Touya Kotaki (Kaolyn)

 **GUARD ROSTER**

Hokori Arashi (Wolfgang1795)

Shi Banken (Wolfgang1795)

Alexios Tatopoulos (Crimson Spider Lily)

 **But I can say for now, the SYOC is officially closed and the story is good to go. Now go out there and have a blast. A bit of a short chapter, but I wanted to get something out for the Christmas Holidays (even though it's a little late depending on your time zone). Have a good one everyone!**

 **Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.**


	5. Prisoners, Assemble!

It was another day in the prison Styx. "Eh, I don't get it." the new guard said. "If Styx is so popular and runs financially well, why do we have benefactors?" Hokori tilted his head that rested on the table within the break room.

Bunri rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it's more of a win-win situation." he explained, not really sure of himself as he did so. "You're better off asking the wardens, but I suppose it's like a bonus, a little extra."

"Oh, like getting free food along with your paycheck when you're working in the food industry?"

"That's a good way to put it, yeah. Like that!" Bunri laughed as he leaned back on his chair. "Anyways, what do you think about your first shift?"

The large ears of the fennec fox guard's ear twitched up in excitement. "It was a little boring during the rest of the night, but it was more exciting than I thought!" The more experienced guard chuckled as he grabbed one of the magazines that sat in the pile on the table, flicking it open as he read the contents within.

As the two sat at the table, one reading and the other now focused on the hd tv that rested on the wall. The sound of a bell went off in the room, the sound of the bell played a little tune.

Hokori's attention focused on the tune as Bunri was unfazed by it, flipping the page over. "Just the morning roll call." he gave a bit of a yawn as he spoke.

"Attention, all prisoners. Assemble for roll call." an automated voice rang through the room.

Bunri closed the magazine. "That ends my shift, going to hit the hay now." he threw the magazine back onto the pile and started heading off to the guard barracks.

"Oh, uh, have a good nap!" the fox got a wave in response before returning his attention to the tv, where some sort of shampoo and conditioner ad was playing, done by some hero with snakes in her hair. "...does the shampoo work for the snakes too?"

* * *

"Seems everyone is up to face the day once more. One step closer to rehabilitation." a guard said with a grin.

He was a tall, olive skinned man and was also slightly muscular to boot. He was wearing the same uniform as everyone else, but the colour of said uniform was faded, appearing to be a lighter shade of green compared to the darker colours of the usual attire worn by many other guards. There were some new additions, such as a long military coat worn over the shoulders in a similar fashion that was slightly paler to the lighter shades of green he was wearing.

This man was also lacking the hat that many guards wore as it let his messy and slightly wavy beige hair to flow. The man's electric blue eyes glanced over the prison cells with silver sparks within them.

"Soon, these prisoners will once again become reformed members of society." he nodded, mostly to himself.

The guard turned to the stairs, the sounds of footsteps coming closer and closer. "I hear you're in high spirits once again, Alexios." Alexios glanced to this new arrival wearing the standard Styx uniform, but like him, lacked the hat and in return wore a monocle on his right eye and also wore a pair of white, tuxedo gloves. He had silvery-white hair that was slicked back that went well with his silvery coloured hair. Despite the way he dressed himself, this man was quite young, just a little bit older than Alexios himself or so.

"You're roaming around too, Shimaru?" Alexios rose an eyebrow at the man.

"I was just on my morning walkabout. I see you finished roll call, Mr. Tatopoulos."

Alexios rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, Shimaru, do go old man on me and use my last name, aight, Hakushu?"

The know named Shimaru Hakushu laughed in a high classed manner. "I suppose that is true, but sadly I'm nowhere near old age yet." he then readjusted his monocle. "Apologizes, Alexios, but I must be off, I still have a bit more to my morning walk to complete."

As Alexios watched him walk off, he wondered, " _Does he mean patrol? Or an actual walk?_ " The olive-skinned man shook his head as he headed down the stairs Shimaru walked up.

Time for work.

Alexios walked down to the ground floor and looked around. Yep, the prisoners were all going about their days, maybe one day, they'll get a second chance.

* * *

Jin sat on one of the outside tables, along with David that showed him around before. Last night, it finally sunk it that he was a prisoner during that lonely night in that small cell.

Sure, he knew that he was a prisoner right from the word go, from the crime to the court case and finally to the bus ride over before being put through the system and sent off into the prison called Styx.

That night however, it stuck heavily. Being in the prison was much more of a wake up call, or rather, a hard confirmation after everything settled down.

" _It's good to at least know someone in the prison._ " he thought as he glanced over to David, who was busy just prisoner watching really. " _Going solo in prison...it's not really a good idea._ "

The sun shined overhead as Jin let his shoulders slump a bit. " _It's a good thing I met David then._ " he had to admit, it wasn't overly hot today, it was warm, warm enough to have a nap under the sun.

"What the fuck!" a voiced shouted out, causing the new blooded prisoner to see a table across from them as a prisoner sat up. "How the fuck did you get another full house? Fucking cheater."

The man laughed. He was a tall man wearing the orange jumpsuit with long sleeves. He had deathly white skin with a thinner than normal frame, a mop of black hair with a pair of brown eyes. "Sorry, but that wasn't cheating." he replied smoothly. "If that was cheating, you wouldn't of won the first round earlier."

The red-faced loser stormed off angrily, leaving the man with the deck of cards to himself.

"Who's that?" Jin inquired, causing David to have a look.

"That's Johnny Spade," he informed the new arrival. "He's actually an alright guy, I can introduce you to him later. He actually arrived a few months before you did."

Before Jin could say anything, he caught the sight on another man, this was much calmer than the last as they already walked right up to the card dealer. "Mind if I join in your little card game?" he asked with a smile, already pulling the chair out.

"Unlike you, I don't cheat Zuko."

Zuko was a man of average build, with black hair and a decent looking face. His most notable feature was the scar that ran from his right eye, which both eyes were clouded over, to his left cheek. Unlike other prisoners, he was wearing a black tuxedo with a black dress shirt and red tie, but he was also wearing a black mask with gold engravings that made him look like the phantom of the opera.

"Now, now, don't be like that, John." the new man smiled, already taking a seat. "Let's play a simple card game, you can even use your quirk to help you out, cause you'll need it."

"Zuko Yamamoto, as you can see, he's a known cheater when it comes to card games, hence why no one plays with him. The only person here who really has a shot is Johnny actually." David explained without being asked, and Jin was glad for it. "Curious about his get up? Well, you'll get used to it. Some prisoners here have gotten...special privileges to say the least. Usually it's just wearing clothes of our choice, whether it's our normal clothes or some sort of outfit."

"So it's possible for me to get my old clothes back?"

David nodded as they turned their attention away from the card game. "There are some inside discussions about if Zuko really did get privileges to wear that."

Jin glanced back to the table, the two locked in their card game. " _Ah, I see._ "

"Hey, are you one of the new guys?" some random criminal walked up to Jin, who cautiously looked back to the nameless arrival.

"Yeah, I am." he responded. "What of it?"

The prisoner gritted his teeth somewhat. "Don't get so defensive new blood. Fumma wants to see ya. It's for your own bloody benefit."

Before Jin could say anything, the prisoner walked away, only mentioning where to find this 'Fumma' in passing, like he should _know_ where to find him.

"So who's Fumma?"

David, who had been listening, sighed. "Fumma...guess I gotta explain, don't I?"

* * *

The co-ed ward. It was less a ward and more of an area. It contained a building that was the guards could quickly and easily get to as well as the medical facility, if anything, you could describe Styx to be in a rather triangular position of the three wards. Male ward, female ward and the connecting co-ed area.

It sported it's own buildings and entertainment or time wasters for the few prisoners that were lucky enough to be granted access to the co-ed area.

The co-ed area was more of a reward for prisoners on good behaviour and sported a bit more than what the normal dorms, such as a bit more variety to the food and activities for starters.

Right now, someone was currently eating in the co-ed's mess hall, one of the male prisoners in fact.

This young man had a lean but healthy build with a normal skin colour from where he was from. He had messy silver-white hair with two to three yellow highlights streaks in it, however he had more alluring features than that. His eyes were very snake-like and yellow, underneath the left eye was a purple snake tongue-like tattoo. His ears were pointy and had sharp fangs along with a snake's tongue, but the most notable feature, was the long rattlesnake tail he possessed.

He was wearing a traditional Japanese kimono, specifically a white Kariginu, azure coloured Sashinuki hakama pants with a pair of black Chinese styled flats. Wrapped around his neck was a dark blue scarf that seemed quite snug and warm.

A few of the lucky prisoners in the co-ed prison completely avoided this snake-tailed guy sitting alone at the table as this rattlesnake was busy with his food. Right now, he was thinking of his latest encounter with one of the new prison inmates when he was walking through the male ward.

 _It was just a simple walk really, a walk to get to the co-ed area from his cell in the male ward. He had been spending most of his time there, he might as well move into the co-ed area at this rate._

 _He stopped in his tracks as he saw a new face. Someone tall, muscular and has neon yellow-skin. This man froze, not completely though, but it did cause him to walk away in another direction._

 _The rattlesnake then looked at a completely different table, across the mess hall was another male, glanced at the snake man for a second, before returning to his own business._

The snake tailed man returned to reality once and saw one of the guards that primarily worked in the co-ed ward.

It was a male guard, dressed up in the same military guard uniform, however he was carrying a wooden stick that acted as a cane and had a black cloth that was wrapped around his eyes.

The guard that approached had slightly tanned skin and his somewhat spiky brown hair peaked out of from the confinement of the cap he wore.

His rectangular and smooth wooden stick hit the side of the table that the rattlesnake was sitting at. "Ah, it appears that I made it to the mess hall. How are you today...Inyoku-Yui Shiro? Ah, forgive me, I used your full name again."

Inyoku-Yui sat quietly at the table, half of his face hidden by his scarf. "It's fine, Mizaru." Inyoku-Yui replied, glancing back to the finished plate in front of him. "But how are you?" a shift from the cold reply was a much more cheerful one.

The guard Mizaru smiled. "I'm doing well."

"Are you at one hundred percent today?" the snake asked, leaning back in his chair.

The guard with no vision shrugged. "It depends really." the guard used his cane to move most the rattlesnake. "Stay out of trouble, Inyoku-Yui. You don't want to get kicked out of the co-ed ward." Inyoku-Yui was probably pouting under his scarf.

" _I'm bored._ " he thought. " _...there are new guys in prison, wonder if they'll be interesting?_ "

Inyoku-Yui then watched as Mizaru walked away. Mizaru Sarugaku, one of the Sanzaru within Styx, Mizaru worked specifically within the co-ed area. Inyoku-Yui stared at him for a while before he quickly shifted his attention elsewhere, standing from his seat and heading off to who knows where.

In another part of the co-ed area, a woman leaned against the wall.

She was a bit taller than most women her age with a slender frame and not much to speak of in terms of fat or muscle. She was also incredibly pale and if you looked, you could easily see her veins! Speaking about other features, her hair was thick and black, cut short to her neck in a flared bob hairstyle while her eyes were large and dark brown, incredibly so at that.

She was wearing a pants that had zippers on the legs which meant if it got too hot, she could change it into shorts, and even shorter than that if she really wanted to. However what was really eye catching was the hooded sweatshirt that she wore, being the same, having zippers at the elbows and shoulders, which meant she could have a short sleeved shirt or a sleeveless one and still retain the hood! Both her hooded sweatshirt and zipper pants in a navy blue as it gradient turned to white at the bottom of the pant legs and the sweatshirt sleeves. Strapped to her feet were some black-strapped gladiator sandals and her hands were covered by lavender-coloured mittens that looked like they could fold and judging from the usual get up, probably sported the ability to become fingerless gloves, last but not least, she had a white surgical mask tied around the back of her head.

The whole outfit screamed low-budget and low-effort in a way, but it gently whispered homemade, which gave it a much more lovely feel to it.

Currently, she was wearing it without any part of the outfit unzipped as she sat to the side. She glanced over to Inyoku-Yui.

Inyoku-Yui was oozing an aura that screamed 'stay away' and his get up only enhanced that, especially with how his scarf hid the bottom half of his head, not to mention his tail.

This didn't really stop Mizaru from approaching the inmate, and it wouldn't stop this woman either. She had approached him many times and now was no different.

"Hey, Snek."

The rattlesnake stopped as his tail grew stiff and shot up a bit, all the while as the snake hissed.

How he hated that nickname she gave him.

"Come on now, Hissy." the woman smiled, all she got was the rattling of Shiro's tail. "Okay, okay. Calm down."

The hissing and the rattling slowed down a bit. "Did you want something, Fushiko?" his tail began to way. "Perhaps—"

"Nah. Not feeling it." Fushiko responded.

Inyoku-Yui's eyes almost went into a deadpan. "That's no fun, Karakuri." the elegantly dressed prisoner walked away. "Maybe next time."

"Maybe." the woman shrugged. " _If I feel like it at the time...probably not though._ "

"You know you won't." this caused Fushiko to glance to her side, a woman had been there.

This woman had a rather unique appearance. She had light green hair that had oleander flowers scattered throughout with matching light pink eyes with the eyelashes being made of oleander petals. Her skin was pale with light pink freckles adorned across her cheeks and even on her shoulders. She looked very delicate with her thin and slender build, she also possessed a tattoo sleeve on her left leg that consisted of oleanders in pale pink ink in a sketch style. It appeared she also had a tattoo sleeve on her right arm, but it was hidden by the long sleeves of her prisoner garbs.

Speaking of which...

Her prison garbs were dyed pink and the pant legs were shortened to that of shorts, the collar of the pink dyed jumpsuit was widened, giving it a off-the-shoulder look. She also sported a gold metal band choker with gold and pearl bracelets, and her footwear compared to the others were more on the lines of heels. This flower woman also had multiple ear piercings with both pearl earrings and bigger oleander ones on the lobe.

"How long have you been there, Yua?"

Yua Aoi had always been a curiosity to Fushiko. "I just got here." she calmly answered and from the looks of it, seemed she had just finished her own meal.

"Anyways, how you doing?"

"I'm doing quite well." the calm Yua replied, leaving Fushiko to look around a bit.

She then coughed into her hands, trying to hide the smile on her face. "So uh, you need a _hand_?" the smile on her face grew?

"There's nothing I need help with at the moment. Sorry."

The smile on Fushiko's face dimmed a little. " _Still way to calm eh?_ "

"I must be off now, Fushiko." and the woman basically wearing zippers was left alone.

* * *

"I see. I see." a young looking woman said, before leaning back on her chair, deep in thought. "Hmm."

The young looking woman sitting at a table alone had dyed, wavy white hair with dark brown streaks in a messy medium-length bob cut. Her eyes were a striking, upturned light green colour while her skin was fairly tanned. She was also a small woman with quite a skinny build.

She wore the orange jumpsuit, with the upper part not being worn as it was tied around her waist as she wore the white short-sleeved t-shirt. She also had a pair of light brown ankle boots and both of her arms were covered in white bandages.

She didn't have much to time to gather her thoughts however.

"Ashita!" a new voice called out, Ashita almost braced herself as if she was going to get tackled as she looked as the person who called her out.

This woman had shoulder-length wavy light, bluish-green hair, pink eyes with a thin and slender build. The major part of her right forearm was covered in tattoos of constellations while on her left hand, specifically between her thumb and pointing finger, was a small, very simple, minimalistic compass tattoo.

She wore the orange jumpsuit with a white tank top underneath which looked a little rough, like it had sleeves ripped off at one point. The tank top took most of the show as she let the upper part of the jumpsuit fall behind her and tied it up around her waist, much like Ashita's own in a way.

"Chikuha." the woman called Ashita responded smoothly.

"Hey, hey, Ashita. You know about the three new prisoners, right? I want to see the new shitstains, wanna test em out too!"

Ashita smiled, "Of course I do. Nothing doesn't get by me here."

"Fuck yeah! Lay it on me!"

Ashita glanced over the woman. " _Chikuha Ueno, age twenty two. Wanted for destruction of property and multiple cases of robbery. A few cases of manslaughter and a few assault cases, making it look like accidents to boot._ "

"Ashita? Ashita Insatsushi?" Chihuka poked the girl.

"You'll be disappointed. You can only meet one of them."

"Huh?"

Ashita pointed back to the female ward cells. "The only one you can meet for now is a girl wearing a mask named Demelza." she explained. "The other two are in the male ward."

Chikuha slumped. "That's shitty."

"It is what it is."

Chikuha grinned, perking herself right up. "Thanks, Ashita!"

"...She's going to do something stupid...isn't she?"

* * *

Demelza looked around the table she was sitting at once more, her light silver eyes glanced from person to person who sat at said table. The first was Nozomi, right next to her with Sora on the opposing side of Nozomi. Directly in front of Demelza herself was the cat girl, Koneko, hiding in her hoodie.

It was a small group, that was for sure.

The new prisoner had no real idea what they were talking about as they ate in the cafeteria of the female ward. Food was currently on her mind right now. However, it was cut short from what she heard from the table, turning her head to Sora.

Sora sighed loudly, looking over her shoulder. "Here comes trouble..." she mumbled, frowning a bit as she did.

Koneko dug a bit deeper into her hoodie, but not much as a new woman arrived at the table and immediately locked her eyes onto Demelza, silently singling her out.

This new woman silently staring at Demelza, sporting a sultry smile was tall and fit, sorta curvy but very attractive with a very dark and sharp look to her. She had pale skin with no visible scars but did have earring piercings, but sadly no earrings at all. She also had a simple diamond shape with only three sides, leaving it uncomplete in a V-shape behind her ear next to her hairlines, only shown when she flicked her hair back for a brief moment.

She was wearing the normal black and white striped prisoner uniform, but the only addition to this...was the dark green guard jacket that she wore over top.

She silently walked around over to the new girl. "Hello there~" her tone carried a sultry tune to it. "I hear you're the new girl in these parts."

Demelza raised an eyebrow behind her mask. "Yeah?" In fluid motion, the woman removed the masked girl's mask, enough to see her face.

"A face of a cutie~ What's your name?"

" _Is she….flirting with me?_ " it was hard for Demelza to truly know, but it had to be. Right? "Demelza." she spoke carefully as the woman's finger pressed against her lips.

"It's really nice to meet you, Demelza~" she cooed. "I'm Akita." she leaned in closer towards the goth girl.

"It's good to see a new face in here. I hope we get along, I'll be counting on you from now on." that confused Demelza greatly as Akita's breath tickled her ears, before a chill ran down her spine because of it. "Just remember, I'm the top bitch here in this prison. Everything that happens here is cause of me." her tone changed immensely, yet still retained a little bit of the sultry tone to it.

Akita leaned back, fixed Demelza's mask and waved, seemingly back to normal. "Catch you around, Demi~" with that, the guard jacket wearing girl left.

"Who...who was that?" Demelza asked, looking back at the table.

"Akita, that's her name." Sora huffed. "No last name, just Akita."

Demelza looked to the other two, causing Nozomi to sigh. "Akita, she believes we are all her underlings."

"Why?"

Demelza heard Sora huff, "maybe 'cause she has a screw loose..." that didn't really help...

Koneko shuffled in her seat. "S-She gets every girl in the female w-ward to answer to her."

"Does she really?" the goth asked. " _I don't see it. Aren't the guards the ones in charge?_ "

Nozomi shrugged. "We don't know why, she believes that she runs the female ward, despite the warden for this ward and the guards that patrol here."

"But s-she doesn't abuse anyone t-though." the timid cat said as Sora gave her a 'really?' look.

"Not that we know." Sora countered back to the cat girl.

Demelza turned her attention back to where Akita left. " _Just what's going on with that?_ "

* * *

 **Hey! Introduced some more characters, still have a bit more to go before everyone is introduced. Almost everyone is here. Anyways, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Holiday and a great start to the New Year!**

 **Soon, we can get the ball rolling once more characters are introduced. Don't got much else to say here, so see ya on the next update. Oh, any thoughts on how I should do future flashbacks? Keep them like the one with Inyoku here or split them up like the normal breaks?**

 **Now, for some review replies:**

 **Kive660: You might have to wait one more chapter for that best chapter, but glad you're enjoying yourself so far!**

 **Sumpreme Kai of Booty: Li has the worst luck for his first day, who knows what would of happened if the guards didn't appear when they did.**

 **gold crown dragon: that's a good kind of bump too, let's save the landmines for another day though.**

 **Oblivious ninja IJ: Yep. Gotta keep that distance from Rin.**

 **Kaolyn: Glad you enjoy reading, Kaolyn. Who knows what kind of fights are in store in this prison. Tai's your favourite? Thanks! It means a lot!**

 **Nemris: While the bus scene wasn't addressed this chapter, maybe next chapter? Thanks for the review, I look forward to showing off everyone's quirks too!**

 **Okay, that's it now. See ya next chapter! ^v^**


	6. Prisoners, Unite!

**Hey, new chapter! Hope you all enjoy it, also decided to put the review replies at the top of the chapter. Might keep these up here, dunno. Anyways, onto the review replies.**

 **Nemris: Yep, more characters and a lot to keep up with, however it's actually around the same size as other bnha syocs or roughly a class, so woo. A fan of Inyoku huh? Nice choice. Who knows about Akita, maybe you'll see, maybe you won't?**

 **Kive660: The best part is here! The chapter is now! Hopefully it can live up to the hype haha. Who knows with Akita~**

 **WhyDidIDecidedToMakeThis: Yep, quite a lot of characters indeed..**

 **Kaolyn: Glad you enjoyed it, and Hokori is adorable with his Fennec Fox ears! XD reading right before class, well luckily you didn't read it during class. Yep, plenty of characters as well as plenty of problems and maybe you'll learn just where Akita got her jacket. Hope you enjoy this chapter too.**

 **gold crown dragon: Hmmm, who knows~?**

 **Supreme Kai of Booty: Lucky lucky. Yep, plenty of interesting characters and still more to go through.**

 **Oblivious ninja IJ: Yes! Onwards! To glory!**

* * *

It was quiet.

As usual.

She sat in her cell, right on the floor, on her knees. A sigh escaped her lips.

She caught a glimpse of her reflection, before closing her eyes. The reflection showed a slim woman, but clearly had a few muscles as her long, black hair was draped down her shoulders with complimented her emerald green eyes and her sharp facial features. Like many others in the prison, she wore the standard orange jumpsuit uniform, though her uniform was worn perfectly as there was no wrinkles in sight.

The seated woman brushed her hair with nothing but her own finger, putting it back into position as she stayed in the centre of her cell. When her beautiful, green eyes opened, they glared at the wall.

"Sae Kumiza," one of the guards said from the other side of her cell. "You're still staying in there?"

The woman, Sae, glared at the cell door, a chuckle came from the guard. "Sorry, sorry. I'll leave you to it." The guard's footsteps faded out after a few seconds and Sae didn't let up her glare.

She opted to stay in her cell, for just a while more.

* * *

"Hm, so that's what one of the new guys look like." a stoic voice spoke from outside of the male ward mess hall to himself.

This man was incredibly tall and many stood clear for this fact alone. He had a lanky body with long, sharp bone horns coming out from his forehead pointing forwards as his eyes were slitted and amber in colour while the sclera was that of silver. He sported jagged bone teeth, wide shoulders and long hind legs with claws that seemed to be made from bone and that also went for his hands too. His complexion was deathly pale and sported long elven ears with the right ear missing part of it from battle as well as missing part of his upper left lip, making it always show his left long canine. Lastly, he had extremely long and fluffy dark hair that reached down to his feet as it almost brushed the ground.

He wore the black striped prisoner uniform, but it was only the pants. He lacked any shoes due to his feet and had his upper torso on full display, showing multiple scars and their varying sizes and were very noticeable due to their darker shade.

This intimidating figure was Kuroishi Yukimura.

The stoic Kuroishi got the attention of another nearby individual.

He was a little short and on the small side, compared to Kuroishi of course. He had dark purple hair that was nearly black as it was slicked back into slight spikes and even possessed a little facial hair, though that also came with several shaking cuts along with it. His dark green eyes, glanced back to the giant as he turned his toned body towards him as he stretched, his fingers locking together briefly as it a series of horizontal scars adorned the back of his fingers.

He was wearing the orange jumpsuit with the long sleeves rolled up and seemed to have a bit of blue on it. "How did you know what they look like? Word of mouth? Do you know anything about them?"

Kuroishi shook his head, turning to face away from the smaller male who happened to be in the same room.

The smaller male (compared to the giant) stood from his spot. "Do you mind telling me more, Kuroishi?"

"Drop it, Reiji." was all the stoic man said, choosing to walk away now as Reiji Maeda sat back down. However, the young man wasn't too bummed about it as he glanced out the prison windows as a smile graced his face. It won't be too long.

* * *

Sitting in the male ward was a tall and slender person with a build that fitted most swimmers as they possessed slicked back, neck-length purple hair pale yellow slitted eyes. They wore the black and white striped uniform, with the sleeves rolled up to their biceps which showed off a green vine tattoo with violets blooming along the vine, wrapping around their left arm. They also seemed to have a white tank top underneath their uniform.

His face remained unmoving, unchanging in expression. Watching the man of neon yellow skin and the man with the snake tail meet briefly, causing the muscular man to walk away in the opposite direction.

His hands ran along a piece of cloth on the table as his eyes travelled towards a rather tall and lanky man with pale skin, brown hair and bloodshot eyes as his veins were easily seen on his arms and body, which was also covered in bruises. He wore the black and white striped uniform, though his shirt had short sleeves instead of the usual long ones.

"Did you see that, Juro?" said the bruised man.

"...I did." came a stoic reply from the man with slitted eyes. This was Juro Raisa and the bruised man was Rhys Dignam.

Rhys stared off into the distance for a while, prompting Juro to say, "Rhys?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess I zoned out. Sorry, but it seems I got some thinking to do." he paused for a second before he decided to leave. "Hmm, see you around, Juro." Rhys up and left the seat, headed somewhere that Juro didn't really care for. Juro watched as Rhys left with his slitted eyes, before he turned his attention elsewhere. There wasn't much to do today, anyway.

* * *

Jin walked with David travelling behind somewhat. Thanks to David, Jin learnt just who Fumma was as well as where to meet him. In a part of the male ward, Fumma would be waiting for him. No help from that crony from earlier though. The memory replayed through his mind.

 _David sighed. "Guess I should tell you about Fumma, then…"_

" _Yeah, you should. Just who is he?"_

 _David glanced back to the one crony who was probably wandering back to Fumma. "He's the big shot of the male ward." David saw the look on Jin's face, as a eyebrow raised up causing him to explain a bit more. "I guess. He's got quite a few other inmates under his command, just like the one who came to you."_

 _Jin crossed his arms, curiosity entered his mind. "Why does he want to see me?"_

" _He wants to see every new inmate, guess you could say safety in numbers, newbie protection or just top dog hierarchy. I don't know."_

" _Does everyone follow him then?"_

 _This time, David raised an eyebrow. "No. I guess it's more of an offer. There are other inmates that don't follow him, but he's definitely got a reputation."_

 _Jin rubbed the back of his neck. "Where is he?"_

 _David looked at him and sighed. "Alright. I'll tell show you."_

And that was how he ended up here, outside heading towards this 'boss' Fumma.

The sun shined down on the outdoor gym equipment as a man sat on a bench, as a few other nameless prisoners were gathered around him in some way or shape. To say a few, might be an understatement a little bit, but at the moment, the size seemed manageable.

The man on the bench was a handsome looking man, could even be considered a stud with a handsome face with a nice lean and slim build. He has little muscles, which couldn't really be seen through the regular orange prison uniform, though his did lack the shirt but in return, possessed a large black coat that covered the top half of his body and reached to his knees. His hands were covered in black gloves as he looked up with his sharp, light blue eyes on his diamond shaped face and small pointed nose. His other features were his small ears and his jade coloured hair that was long and tied back into a ponytail that reached down to his shoulders. Yet this wasn't all, due to his lack of shirt for his uniform, underneath the jumpsuit, the colours of red, yellow and green could be seen under his body and the simple fact that wrapped around the right side of his face, covering his eye were some bandages.

He was clearly looking directly a Jin as soon as he walked in.

"I see you arrived. I was expecting a much later arrival." the man spoke, gaining Jin's attention.

"And I guess you're Fumma?"

The man nodded, "Fumma Yoshitsune." the bandaged eyed man said quite calmly. "And you must be Jin. It's nice to meet you in person, word travels fast around here at times. If only the other one decided to meet me."

"...What do you want?"

Fumma took what seemed to be a sake cup in his hand. "It's not what I want. You were directed to me, I guess you could say that the older prisoners are looking out for the newbies."

"What? By joining your clique?" Jin asked, walking forward a bit. "Sorry, but even if there's safety in numbers as you said, that still isn't very safe."

Fumma down the cup with ease before handing it off to one of the cronies. "There are some downright horrible criminals in here, there are safety in numbers after all."

" _Does that apply to you too?_ " Jin wondered to himself as Fumma spoke again.

"There's no rush, take your time. Who knows, you might end up in a situation where you need a couple of hands on your back."

Jin narrowed his eyes. "Should I take that as a threat?"

"No, no. Far from it. As I said, there are plenty of dangerous criminals apart from us, and they lack the ability to be civil."

"Right...I'll think about it." Jin turned on his heels and left, heading back towards David who waited a safe distance away.

Fumma looked down to see another cup, filled to brim before downing that one too.

"Sir," one of the cronies behind him spoke, "is it wise to let him go?"

"Easy now, it's perfectly fine. They'll come back on their own accord."

"If you say so sir...a refill?" Fumma just nodded to that as the cup was filled again.

* * *

Tai grumpily walked through the male ward cells along with the guard dressed in a lighter green shade. They were here to check on two prisoners, to check on how they were before letting them wander around the prison, if they were in the right mind to do so and not throwing a tantrum.

"Which one do you want to check on?" asked Alexios, causing the grumpy guard to scoff and bite back venomously.

"Who the fuck cares? If you care so much, you fucking choose one!"

Alexios raised a hand. "Ah, thanks. I'll take this one then."

"You dumbass!" Alexios promptly ignored that last one as he opened the cell.

Inside the cell, he saw a man that he knew had short black hair, grey eyes and a slightly greyish tone to his skin along with a tone yet slim build as if all fat had been burned away from his body, leaving his muscles strangely exaggerated despite him not being particularly muscular. This man was trapped in a black, full body outfit that seemed pretty resistant and made out of plastic feeling cloth with two grey bandolier belts wrapped around the torso, crossing in the centre of his chest and and finally a pair of boots that was also resistant looking.

"Good morning, Gin Shinoha." he greeted as Gin sat in the padded cell that looked similar to his outfit.

"Am I free to go _officer_?" Gin asked sarcastically from his cell with a soft tone to his voice.

Alexios gestured to the open cell, "of course!"

"You don't mind if I take this suit off then, right?" Gin asked, pulling at the restrictive clothing.

The guard shook his head, causing Gin growl in disappointment. "Then I'll make my leave then." Gin brushed past Alexios and headed out of there, especially considering that he didn't want to bother with any of them. The guards and his neighbour.

Meanwhile Tai was looking at the other one in a different cell.

This man was a wall of muscle and as a result, came off as quite terrifying when added to his height and his baldness did nothing to alleviate the appearance along with his green eyes that looked quite soulless. His attire consisted of heavy looking prisoner garbs that shared the same orange jumpsuit design as well as having reinforced shackles.

"Gousen Hikudo." Tai didn't say anything else as he stared at the shackles and weighed down man.

The man, Gousen, said nothing.

"Are you ready to come out?"

Gousen narrowed his eyes as he looked to his left, down towards the cell Gin was in. "Yeah, I guess I am." he said as his face was rather blank.

"Tch. If you're thinking about killing him, then forget it." Tai scoffed. "Not like you can even do anything about it anyway."

Gousen huffed as he began to walk which proved to be slightly difficult due to the weighted clothing.

"Remember, try anything and I'll make sure not even ashes would remain to scatter at your funeral." Tai warned, closing the cell as Gousen huffed. He was free from his cell for now, might as well make the most of it.

"They'll fit back into society at their rate their going."

Tai resisted the urge to punch his coworker at times. "If that's all, then I'm going! I'll leave these shitstains to you." With that, Tai left Alexios alone as the guard turned to look over the ward, or whatever he could see from the cells.

* * *

Li couldn't just get a break and he wasn't even here for a week! First being that weirdo that attacked him, the second being the snake man who gave off an dangerous air too, now there was a third annoyance, one that carried himself as a gentleman in fact.

"Just who the hell are you?" asked Li, gripping his fists, already tired of this shit.

"Touya Kotaki." The third annoyance greeted.

Touya was quite tall with a slender and athletic figure in a rather rectangular shape as he had muscles which showed that he did partake in physical activity, though it was more on the average side from other inmates with muscles. He had a great posture, standing with his back, chin and eyes straight. His skin was also a little bit pale with almost no scars on his hands, feet and face.

He also had an oval face with clear skin, a straight nose with thin lips that decorated his face with only his eyes standing out from his face, which his iris and pupils were bigger than normal and were orange in colour, like a burning fire and seemed to be moving if you looked into them. Finally, his hair was bright yellow and was cut quite short with a silky strand of hair covering his ears and neck.

He wore the standard orange uniform, much like most other prisoners. The shirt being quite clean and not having any trace of dirt on it, nor was the outfit wrongly folded, as if it was ironed recently and not to mention his shoes were also clean and new.

"What do you want? You gonna attack?"

"Nope! I just saw that you were scouting out for the prison." the polite tone and smile didn't put Li at ease however. "Are you perhaps, looking to escape? You've been here, how many days now? Two? Three?"

"That's none of your business."

Touya titled his head. "Well, it's not like you can just break out. This is Styx after all, one of the most secure prisons in the entire world. Breaking out of here is near impossible."

Li huffed, and would've almost left if what Touya said didn't grab his attention.

"You've only been here a couple of days, but I heard from a reliable source inside the co-ed ward that there's a pretty hopeful rumour."

Li looked back with new interest. "What do you mean?"

Touya clapped his hands together softly, holding onto that soft, polite smile. "It's just a rumour, but I'll be glad to tell." and so he did, all with a gentleman's tone. "But first, take a seat."

* * *

"Congratulations, Remko Akko." a voice sarcastically mused. "You're getting shipped off!"

Remko had a lean yet muscular build with a rather androgynous appearance as he had rather feminine features, especially in his facial structure. He possessed a bright brown left eye and a silver right eye and short cut hair that was silver in colour, though the most eye catching thing about him was his arm that was of a silver, metallic colour with a prisoner's number burned onto the wrist.

He was dressed in the prison jumpsuit, however the top part of it wasn't being worn, hanging down his waist tied together as a makeshift belt, though he did wear the white tank top as well as a pair of sandals.

"Good fucking riddance." spat the guard. Remko glared bitterly at the guard who rose his foot down at the sitting Remko.

"Now, now. No need for that kind of language." came the voice belonging to an old man. "You must be Remko Akko, yes?" the old man then shooed away the guard, who promptly left.

The old man was dressed in a business suit, hunched over a little bit but not too much and held a thin, black cane in his right hand. He had plenty of wrinkles, dark bordeaux coloured eyes and short and near grey hair that was combed neatly, but was clearly going through hair loss.

"What do you want?"

The old man chuckled a bit. "Have you heard of the prison, Styx?" he asked, but didn't wait for any reply. "You are being shipped off to Styx, I just wanted to met you before then."

Remko glared at the old man and spoke with words that were still bitter, "...Who are you?"

"Ah, you might of heard of me. I'm director Sukuinote, of the company Helping Hands."

Remko's eyes widened a little. Helping Hands was a rather big company, globally though it was primarily in Japan for their main headquarters. They dabbled in a lot of different field, from medicine to hero support. However, the one thing they were popular and well known for, was children. Orphanages, adoption shelters, you name it. A lot of Helping Hands was focused around childcare.

You'd had to be living under a rock or choose not to notice the company in some way if you never heard of them. "Then why are you here?"

"As I said, I wanted to see you before you get shipped to Styx, as I'm making my way there myself." the old man gave him a warm smile. "I look forward to seeing you then, Remko."

That just left the soon to be shipped off prisoner wondering and curious.

* * *

"Akita," came the voice of some nameless female prisoner. "How was it?"

Akita smiled as she had returned from meeting Demi, sitting in between two loyal followers. "I think it went well," she took a hold of one of her follower's chins.

"From the look of things, they didn't look to convinced after you left."

The head woman wearing the guard's jacket shrugged. "Then I shall show them the power of my influence should I need to, besides, they always join in the end." she then glanced to the woman who expressed concern for her as she gently placed a hand on her cheek. "Thank you for looking out for me~." she cooed.

The top bitch turned her head to see Chikuha head towards were she once was. " _Oh, this might be fun to watch._ "

"Akita?" asked a different follower.

"Hm? Oh, its nothing to worry yourself over. Just something fun might happen soon."

The follower eased as Akita patted her head softly as Akita's eyes lingered on Chikuha as the other two cronies just looked at each other.

* * *

"Ah, we're finally here." said the bus driver with the skull for a head as she parked the dull, grey bus. "Enjoy your vacation, Shi?"

Shi was large, strong, and very intimidating. Her muscles could be seen through her clothes, a clear powerhouse, but she exhibits a lot of jackal like features. Primarily, her head. Her entire head was that of a jackal's head complete with the fur, the muzzle and even the large ears that went with her light brown eyes. She also had a fluffy black and white jackal tail with the black and white fur also going up her back and even her hands were a bit paw-like as her skin was that of a light brownish shade.

Her uniform was pretty much the same as everyone else's except for her hole for her tail and the few rips or smudges that seemed to come from a rumble of some kind. The more personal addition to her was the black, spiked collar around her neck which also had a golden name-tag on it that said: Cerberus.

Shi Banken, didn't respond immediately but she did nod as she picked up her duffle bag.

Zugaikotsu Kokkaku, the skull headed bus driver, fixed up her guard uniform but lacked a hat much like Shi did. "Quiet as ever, huh?" Compared to Shi, she wasn't nearly as built, having a more slim and curvy appearance.

Shi sniffed the air as the two walked back into Styx. "Everything okay, Shi?" Zugaikotsu looked concerned at her coworker as Shi snarled a little. " _Did something happen?_ "she didn't have the same sort of nose as Shi, so she just hoped it wasn't anything to serious.

"Shi! Wait up!" Zugaikotsu called out as she followed the jackal, who seemed to be ready to go back to work.

It seems that, Cerberus: The Guard Dog of the Styx, was back home and judging from the look of things, had some work to do.

* * *

 **Hey! Isn't this a nice surprise! An update! Wooo! Sorry it took a little bit, but now, that it's here, I hope you all enjoy. Now everyone has been introduced in some way ;) some more subtle than others. Now we start the journey through Styx. I'm looking forward to the arcs, and I hope you guys are looking forward to them too. :D Have a great day/night!**


	7. Prison Days

**Yo. Guess it's time for another chapter, yeah? Well, time to head into the story now that all the intros are done.**

 **Reviews~**

 **FinnyFalolou: Hey, thanks! ^v^**

 **ILikeFoxes828: Thanks and has it really been that long? Huh, guess I've been going at a slow pace then. Don't worry though.**

 **Kaolyn: I wonder the same, but I think I'm doing a good job. Yep! Down to the new arc! Cerberus is definitely an interesting title for a guard, guess we'll find out just what makes that so.**

 **Nemris: Yep, one hell of a job, but we get to the story and plot now :D Thank you, I liked exploring them too. Thanks~**

 **Tobimadaraisawesome: Glad I did a good job, it was a bit short, but I didn't want to leave it for like seven months. Thanks.**

 **Supreme Kai of Booty: Cheers, me too. I had a fine time, thanks! And there he is, I would'nt say calling him that is weird, you like what you like ;) Oh god, that is an adorable thought and the puppy returns, who knows~ well, I do :P**

 **Gold crown dragon: YES!**

 **Oblivious IJ: Yep, more intros, but thankfully, they're done now! Any future introduced OC is well, my own. But no more intros! Plot! Woo!**

* * *

Card games.

They had a lot of uses. Entertainment mainly, followed by gambling. It provided a good show for those watching, more so the ones who understood how the game was played and if there were stakes involved. For the players, it was either fun or challenging. Reading your opponent as well as keeping your own composure. There was skill to a game focused on luck.

It was also open to cheaters.

Zuko shuffled a deck of cards before dealing some of them out as Johnny took a look at his hand. A two and a seven.

The smiling Zuko placed the deck to the side, holding onto his own cards. A pair of aces.

Zuko had to hold back a chuckle, wondering how Johnny would handle this situation, though a part of him knew what was coming.

They played the game like normal, though both sides kept their hands until it was time to play their hands. Zuko wasn't surprised to see a royal flush...which was the exact same hand he now held after a quick flick of his cards.

The game was _very_ open to cheaters.

"Seems we came to a draw."

Johnny gave him a look, taking the deck into his own hands. "Not that much of a surprise, is it?" Zuko laughed it off for a little bit.

"You know, it's a shame." Zuko smiled, looking down at the cards in his hand. "People can so easily group up on another when someone points it out, yet are blind to the bullshit that their saying, that the preacher is preaching, you know?"

Johnny glanced up from his hand. "What does this have to do with anything?" he asked.

Zuko shrugged very nonchalantly. "Nothing really, just the general matter of things." he chuckled a little. "It's true though. One person can cause the downfall of another so easily by rallying a group together, yet most people are blind to the preacher's bullshit as well as the preacher themselves."

Johnny huffed. "Just play your next hand already." Zuko was a tiring individual.

"Very well." the man grinned from ear to ear.

* * *

Demelza sat at a table, there was still a lot for the new arrival to go through. She was having a bit of trouble processing the whole thing with Akita that happened earlier.

So that was the so called 'top bitch' of the female ward? She seemed...nice? Was that the correct word to use with her? The new arrival had no idea what to really believe, Sora said that Akita had a screw loose, but Koneko said that she did in fact had a large majority of the female ward under her wing.

There was also the interaction itself. She came on a bit uh, strong. Though it was also clear that she laid down the ground rules of her being the top bitch in the ward.

" _The first few days are kinda rough..._ " thought the girl as her dull coloured eyes glanced down to the barren table she sat at, alone this time as the others had to leave for a multitude of reasons.

She was then brought out of her thoughts as a foot slammed itself down onto her table. "Eh?!" Demelza tumbled a little of her seat and when she looked up, she saw a woman with light, bluish-green hair and pink eyes as well as having tattoos on her.

"Hey, new girl, _right?_ " grinned the newcomer to her table.

Demelza fumbled to gain her words back after the shock, it didn't take too long for her to respond though. "Y-Yeah?"

"Nice! I'm Chikuha Ueno, nice to meet ya, fresh meat!"

" _Fresh meat?_ "

Demelza didn't like the grin on Chikuha's face. "Nice to meet you too!" she responded with the same vigour.

The woman with constellations on her forearm tapped her foot onto the table. "I hope you got into this prison for a fun crime! I hope it's not something stupid like shoplifting."

"Wha?" the poor girl didn't really know what to do here.

Chikuha tilted her head to the side, still holding that grin. "Well, I guess from your appearance it doesn't seem like a big crime like most of us here. So why are you in Styx?"

"You don't know my crime though..." she brought up, but whatever that was supposed to do didn't stop Chikuha at all.

The bluish-green haired woman's foot on the table started to push down a bit. "Are you saying there's a chance to find out first hand?"

"...N-No?"

Sadly, that response was a millisecond too late as an explosive roar echoed in her ears as she was once again, sent down to the floor.

"Show me a good time, you bitch!" shouted Chikuha, still having that same grin as before.

" _Why me?!_ "

* * *

"Seems that Shi is back from her vacation." mentioned Bunri as he just re-entered the guard's break room.

"Shi?" Hokori looked up from the table. "Who's that?"

"Ah, that's right. I almost forgot." Bunri rubbed the back of his neck as he pulled out a chair before taking a seat. "Shi, well, she is known as—"

"The Guard Dog of Styx." Shimaru finished as the Bunri shot him a look. "Apologies, I couldn't help myself."

"Guard dog? You mean like Cerberus?" Hokori's innocent answer had caused the more butler-like guard Shimaru to chuckle.

"You could definitely say that." he shot the new guard a smile. "Cerberus is her nickname within Styx."

The fennec fox shot up from his seat as his tail wagged excitedly. "Whoa, really?!"

"Really." came the voice of Bunri, already making himself comfortable with the provided table and chair. "We'll tell you now, she didn't get that nickname for nothing."

"Ooooh?!"

" _I wonder if he knows his tail is wagging?_ " wondered Shimaru as he watched the energetic fox practically bounce where he stood. "You're really interested about this?"

"With a nickname with Cerberus and Guard Dog of Styx, there has to be a reason, right?" Yep, he was definitely interested.

Bunri, who was leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table had just shot Hokori some finger guns. "That's right."

The guard who had the aura of a butler sent a glance to Hokori and his enthusiasm to learn about the Guard Dog of Styx. "Don't worry though, you'll probably be meeting her shortly."

Realisation then dawned down upon Bunri's face. "Ah shit, I forgot..."

"Hm? Forgot? Forgot what?" the curious fennec fox tilted his head.

Bunri shook his head, "just with Shi. Knowing her, she got straight back into work mode."

"Is she that passionate?"

"Considering she had to be forced to take a vacation, I would say so."

Hokori tapped his foot as he absorbed all the information. He was definitely curious about this guard dog. He wondered when he could meet this person! He was pumped!

* * *

Elsewhere, Akita scratched the chin of one of her most loyal followers as another follower acted as a camera in the female ward thanks to her quirk, allowing her to watch what had just unfolded with the new girl Demelza and Chikuha.

Though camera was kinda pushing it...

Nothing much really happened yet, but it was still interesting nonetheless. "Are you sure we should let this play out?" asked one follower.

Akita however shook her head. "This is fine, it's just playing its course is all."

The follower gave Akita another look over, wondering if she was truly fine with it. It was incredibly hard to tell with her, though she expected that a part of her wanted to do something. So she just decided to nod with Akita's current move and just watch from afar.

* * *

Demelza looked up at the table she once sat at, it was no longer considered a table. Just a small pile of broken rubble, debris.

She had coughed as she got herself up, sadly not standing.

"Weeeeell, I'll give you credit for getting out of the way in time, if that was intentional." the sudden attacker applauded from near the wreckage.

The new prisoner was not prepared for such a thing to occur, especially once the other woman began to approach.

"Why?" Demelza asked the approaching woman a rather simple question, though Chikuha responded with one of her own.

"Why not?"

That wasn't reassuring…

Demelza looked down to see a spoon, that wasn't there before. A quick look towards Chikuha gave the poor girl some bad vibes. Demelza scrambled to her feet as the spoon suddenly exploded. "Ah!"

"What was that called?" Chikuha's grin dropped down a little bit.

"I don't know what I did to you, but I don't want to fight!" The masked girl moved quickly to explain herself.

Chikuha huffed, holding another spoon. "Do I need a reason?" she asked, throwing the small spoon up and down.

Chikuha lifted the spoon up, holding it similar to how throwing knives were being held. Demelza was still confused about why this woman wanted to fight. Was this testing her? Proving her worth? She had no idea.

She almost braced herself for the spoon until something caused her to stop. Thank god, something or someone intervened...at least she hoped. The spoon had lowered and the brief thought of her being seen as 'waste of a fight' played out in her mind.

Chikuha looked up soon after she lowered the spoon and Demelza followed her line of sight and gulped. They both looked on as a large and intimidating woman with the head of a jackal stared them down while wearing a collar that said: Cerberus.

"Fuck me. The dog's back..."

The jackal headed woman began to growl, it was clear she was ready.

"Who...is that?" Demelza asked as this sudden arrival stood back, glaring daggers at both of them.

"Well fresh meat, all you need to know is that she's Cerberus here in the Styx." Chikuha took a step back. "Good luck with dealing with her, newbie."

When Chikuha tossed the spoon onto the ground, Cerberus charged. At full speed too!

Demelza was not ready for any of this...

* * *

Alexios whistled as he watched Cerberus arrive on scene.

"You just going to watch?" asked the bus driver, Zugaikotsu.

The male guard shrugged. "Didn't want to take the guard dog's spotlight."

The skull headed woman just looked towards Shi, taking care of the situation. The bus driver sighed as she did, things seemed to be getting back to normal it seemed. It was like Cerberus never left at all.

"Well, I'm going to continue my patrol. See you, Zugaikotsu." Now the bus driver watched as Alexios walked off, back to work.

* * *

Osamu tidied up some files, more specifically profiles on the prisoners within Styx. "Have you heard? Cerberus is back." he looked back to see his sister Muika jump a little bit.

He had to withhold a laugh. Shi was an intimidating individual based on appearances, but she had done nothing to really warrant fear from his sister. Muika was simply nervous around the guard dog woman.

Osamu had to admit, when he first met Shi, he was kinda nervous about pissing her off. She could probably punt him through the roof, thankfully that wasn't the case. It wasn't as bad as he thought, it was actually pretty nice. Shi wasn't a bad person, just very work focused.

"You alright, Muika?"

Muika hurriedly turned her head and nodded. "I-I'm alright."

"Nervous?"

Muika stumbled over her words for a bit. "Not really..." she muttered out. He didn't blame her with Shi.

"Don't worry too much, alright? There's no reason to be nervous around her, alright?" he gave her a warm and brotherly smile. So he decided to change the topic. "Got another session planned out today?"

Muika nodded as Osamu proceeded to help his sister out with organising the profiles.

* * *

In a small room, a woman continued to sit alone in her cell. "Come on now, Sae." came the voice of a guard. "It's time to get some fresh air."

Sae said nothing as the guard opened the cell door, allowing the woman to walk out. Besides, it was almost time for the regularly scheduled meals.

She contemplated whether she should eat at the co-ed area or just in the female ward. There was some pros and cons to that. The co-ed ward had better meals (in her opinion) but that also meant meeting some more notable faces, even as she walked through the female ward, some faces she both recognise and couldn't recognise sent her glares.

Upon receiving these glares, she shot back an even stronger one, making them drop eye contact with her. In the end, she decided to eat her meal in the co-ed ward.

As she pulled up a seat with a tray full of food and as she ate, she couldn't shake the eyes that lingered on her. A quick glance to the person watching her showed just who was watching her.

Inyoku-Yui, she could feel like he was grinning. Unlike the others who had just glared at her, his eyes didn't hold the same resentment as they did.

So she continued eating, if he wanted to try anything, that was all up to him. Though she doubted that he would risk losing access to the co-ed ward...though that had yet to be seen.

" _If you're going to act, then act criminal._ "

In the end, nothing had happened during her meal. Sae sighed as she placed the eating utensils down onto the tray as she just wanted to head back to her cell.

* * *

Seimei looked up from his desk as the old man Sukuinote just walked in. "Sorry I'm late, these old bones don't really help much." the old man laughed to himself.

"It's no big deal." the warden of the male ward waved his hand at the old man. "You said you brought someone with you?"

The old man nodded as said person was brought in. Remko Akko entered into the room, occupied with some Styx guards as well as a woman dressed in a business suit and a pair of black framed glasses with fair skin and long brown hair that was tied up into a bun.

She was holding a clipboard with what seemed to be a folder on top of it.

"Thank you Sente, do you mind handing the folder to Seimei?"

The woman nodded, placing the folder onto the desk. "Here you go, Mr Tokugawa."

Seimei had a quick look through the folder, looking at both the quirk and criminal records of the new arrival who really didn't like being here. "Quite a criminal record you have here, Remko." The silver armed prisoner had a bitter look in his eye. "Murder, bank robberies, theft, arson...and the list continues."

He closed the folder and handed it off to another guard. "Take the folder to Muika and tell her to file it away." the guard nodded before leaving the room with folder in hand, allowing Seimei to return his attention to the criminal in front of him. "No wonder you've been brought to Styx. I'll say this much, you'll find it a lot harder to escape from this prison."

Remko said another as a guard got him to move, presumably to his new cell. "Enjoy your stay, Remko." Seimei said as the prisoner was taken away.

"Sorry to drop this on you." Sukuinote bowed his head. "Styx was the only prison I could think of to help him."

"That's alright." the warden shook his head. "Since your here, I should go get Eris to discuss our earlier mentioned arrangement."

The benefactor of Styx nodded as he turned his head to his assistant. "Please cancel any later appointments, Sente."

"Will do, sir."

* * *

 **Whoa, it's been a while. Sorry, been a bit busy, but we back baby. Thanks for waiting so patiently for this chapter, I apologise for the later chapter, been a lil bit busy, but hey, back in business.**

 **Anyways, the first arc is underway! I hope you're all enjoying your time in Styx. I'm looking forward to getting into the story and I hope that goes the same to you!**

 **Another short chapter, but that's because I wanted to update. I'll slowly get these chapters longer. So see you all next time.**


	8. Jackals, Bombs and Crazy People!

**Next Chapter!**

 **Gold crown dragon: Haha, that definitely sounds fun :D**

 **Oblivious IJ: If it is a game, I never heard of it. So maybe?**

 **Supreme Kai of Booty: Hey, thanks! Yeah, poor Demelza isn't having the best luck right now. I'm looking forward to it too.**

 **ThalioTP: Yep, still here. Haha, thanks! I'm glad. Hmm, juggling so many ocs at once can be a bit worrying, but experiences and all that. Thanks for the concern!**

* * *

" _Hello, I'm Sagimaru Sukuinote, you might of heard of me before. I'm the director of the company Helping Hands. Here at Helping Hands, we help young children get the life they deserve. A lot of children nowadays are without a home, and here at Helping Hands, we're not only helping with advancements of medicine and technology, but we're also looking out for the children who will inherit the future. Remember, we're here to lend a helping hand."_

A delicate looking woman with silvery hair watched the ad play on TV before she shot a look at the window of the shabby apartment she had occupied. The advertisement was a standard Helping Hands ad with that catchy slogan of the 'lending a helping hand' variants.

She had just watched the old man walk through one of the children shelters, prompting people to give these children a chance, and seeing how much the company helped with its claims of medicine and technology advancements, it definitely had a voice in the world.

To a degree that is.

It wasn't some magical company that could interfere with everything. It was just a very well known company.

The woman stood, holding onto a mug as she glanced out of the window just as a police car went barrelling down the road, sirens blaring. Despite there being heroes, crime was still running rampant and police was still needed from time to time.

She continued her day as she took a sip from the mug. She had a few days to waste.

"Just a few days..."

* * *

The Guard Dog of Styx had charged immediately at the two prisoners as soon as Chikuha had tossed the spoon.

"Take that you dog looking bitch!" grinned Chikuha as the spoon exploded as soon as Shi had gotten closer towards the two, though the explosion wasn't that powerful enough to stop the jackal that was Styx's Cerberus.

This was Chikuha Ueno's quirk!

 _Timebomb: With a single touch, Chikuha can turn any object into a timed bomb and will explode after a set amount of time of her choosing, though longer timers require more energy but the bigger the object is will have much shorter timers as well as costing more energy._

"Ah fuck me..." Chikuha sweated as the jackal kept on her attack. She wasn't going to let up, so Chikuha began to run for the hills! "Just fuck off already!"

The only response she got in return was the snarls of an angry dog.

Demelza, who sat there like some sort of third wheel, panicked as the dog approached fast, quicker than she had imagined. The poor girl had to brace herself from the impact...but nothing came from it.

She had looked up to see the guard dog go after the bigger threat that was Chikuha. Shi jumped over a table as the bomber had backpedalled out of there, avoiding the grasp of Cerberus.

Chikuha looked down to her side and gripped onto the small piece of debris from the previous explosion. "I hope you can count to three!"

The jackal did nothing as the cornered prisoner threw the small piece of rubble at her and after three seconds, just as Chikuha said, a small explosion went off! She immediately got a move on once she noticed that the guard dog was busy with her vision...though it didn't stop her from using her nose...

"Gotta get a move on." she had glanced up to a wall before putting her hands against it. It was going to take a bit out of her, but she'd rather not be here. "Let's get out of here with a bang!"

After a few seconds with Shi right behind her, palm outstretched ready to grab the criminal, a large explosion engulfed the wall.

"Aaaah!" screamed the almost forgotten Demelza as she braced herself from the flying rubble.

Chikuha walked through the wall, covered in the dust from the explosion and nothing else. She was perfectly fine. "Fuck you, you dumb ass bitch." she grinned before she heard the rubble crumble and shift from the hole in the wall she made. "God fucking damn it!"

The guard nicknamed Cerberus dusted off her shoulder as she stepped forward, snarling at the prisoner while Demelza rubbed her eyes from the dust of the explosion as she coughed a little as she did.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" the bomber than pointed towards Demelza, who sat behind the guard. "There's another prisoner there you know."

Shi didn't even blink, her attention was solely on the prisoner in front of her. Chikuha had sent a glance over the guard dog, Styx's Cerberus wasn't immune to her explosions, but she was a tough one.

" _Guess I have to make my next bomb even stronger!_ "

It was then Shi's endurance had shined through, as her hand clutched around the wrist of the timebomb quirk user and for the first time since her return to the prison, she spoke.

"Know your place." she snarled out, showing off those sharp canines.

So Chikuha opened her palm of the gripped wrist, revealing more pieces of debris as yet another explosion went off in the halls. The explosion went off causing a cloud of dust to appear and roll right on through, making it hard to see, though the sound of snarls and vulgar swears could be heard within said cloud of dust.

Meanwhile Demelza watched, frozen at what she saw. She had no idea what to think about this or what to feel for that manner, though her eyes were brighter than before.

Out of the cloud of dust caused from Chikuha's explosion, the jackal that was Shi walked out with Chikuha over her shoulder, though she come out unscathed like Chikuha was. Demelza was speechless.

 _"What...just happened?"_ She had just witnessed a guard tank an explosion as the bomber seemed more worn out than hurt.

Shi's eyes then locked onto Demelza, who shrunk under her gaze. She offered no resistance and she could of sworn time halted for a moment.

Demelza had wondered if the size of the objects lowered the effectiveness of Chikuha's bombs or if this Cerberus woman had developed some thick skin during her time as a guard of the prison, which was plausible, unless it was quirk related. Regardless, a bomb was a bomb, if she got hit with one, she would have it a lot worse than the guard dog, and those injuries were an indicator that she wasn't invisible.

Suddenly, guards ran onto the scene and before Demelza knew it, things started to move.

Chikuha groaned weakly from Shi's shoulder. " _Fuck me...if I had more stronger explosions I would have won..._ " she cursed herself for entering close quarters combat with the jackal-headed woman. " _I would have won if I kept exploding! DAMN IT!_ "

Shi glanced to the woman on her shoulder, she was glad she stopped her in time. Before Shi could think more about that, a guard ran up to her.

"Shi, you need to get medical attention, I'm surprised you're still standing after all those explosions!" said a guard as she tried to direct Shi to the infirmary with prisoner in hand. The guard dog didn't think it was that bad, just some minor wounds, though she might go just to clean up a little and be a bit more presentable. To Shi, the guard fretting over her was exaggerating. She had handled worse explosions than this, and that's probably what the other guard was thinking. So she shrugged as she shifted the prisoner on her shoulder.

Might as well take her too.

* * *

Remko looked up at the cell in front of him. "This is your cell or rather, your new home." said one of the guards. "You got yourself landed in the anti-quirk cells, congrats."

Remko rolled his eyes at the sarcasm before the guard had brought him outside. "Now go and mingle with the other prisoners or something."

The silver armed prisoner looked back towards the guard that had left him. "Oh, one last thing." the guard stopped, his tone had changed completely. "Don't expect to leave from Styx so easily."

That left Remko to his own devices...such as thinking about the tour of the prison he arrived at. Styx was a high security prison and the 'tour' he had been on to show him around just served to prove that escape was near impossible. Well, the guards said it was impossible, but Remko didn't like that thought at all and preferred to keep it in his mind as near impossible.

"I wasn't informed of any more new arrivals." came the sudden voice of Fumma Yoshitsune, who approached from behind, keeping some distance as he did.

"And just who are you?" Remko bitterly asked as he watched the older man stop a short distance away from him.

"The name's Fumma." he gave a little introduction to this new surprise convict as he now scratched his chin. "Hmm, you're alone?"

Remko frowned, ready to get into a defensive stance. "What of it?"

Fumma raised one of his gloved hands into the air, signalling for the new blood to calm down in a sense. "I didn't mean anything ill willed if that's what you were thinking. Just that this prison is home to some rather nasty criminals."

"And what? You're just going to offer me protection or some shit?"

Fumma sported a handsome smile. "My, you read my mine! In fact, I was going to offer you to join under me." Before Remko could even get a word out, Fumma spoke up once more. "Of course, I'm going to give you some time to think things over."

"...Right…"

After saying what needed to be said, Fumma turned around and began to leave while Remko kept his eyes on him.

"Tch." He still needed to have a look around the ward a bit more, but one thing was for sure. " _The way he talked about it...it must be a decent sized group...and I doubt they'll just let me go free...whatever._ "

With that he was gone while a new pair of eyes had just observed the ending of the conversation, though what was said was lost on them.

" _A new one?_ " thought Reiji Maeda as he had happened to stumble upon the scene. It was pure luck that he had stumbled across a meeting he knew far too well about. " _I had no idea there was another new prisoner in the ward._ " He then shot a look behind him as he decided to continue walking.

To an onlooker it would have looked like he was spying on them, and he didn't really want to give that impression.

So he left.

* * *

"Demelza! Are you alright?!"

The masked girl had turned to see both Koneko and Nozomi running towards her. "A-Are you alright?" the cat girl looked over the newest addition to their small group.

"I'm fine..." silver eyed girl reassured as her eyes seemed a bit more colourful now. "Just, was surprised, that's all it was..."

Nozomi crossed her arms as she glanced to the ruined cafeteria wall. "Explosions?" when she saw Demelza nodded, she got a good understanding now as Koneko begun to help Demelza up. "Ah, Chikuha."

"Is this a common occurrence?" asked the so called fresh meat of the prison.

Koneko who had been helping Demelza, sent a look towards the hole in the wall. "I-I don't think it is."

"Sort of, depends on her mood at the time."

" _That's reassuring..._ " she started to think she had bad luck when coming to this prison.

Nozomi then went over towards the pair. "Come on, it's not really the best to stay here." she sent a glanced towards one of the guards directing what seemed to be small little robots over to the rubble. "This isn't exactly the safest place."

Demelza had to agree as the trio went ahead and left the ruined cafeteria, only sending a look back to the debris, hoping that things calmed down for her.

" _If this is regular…_ " she shook her head of the thoughts, best not to think about that.

* * *

Ashita leaned against the wall, waiting. " _She'll be here any second..._ "

"Yo! Ashita! What the actual fuck!" cried out Chikuha as she stomped her way towards the woman after the scuffle that had happened with the guard dog. She was thankful that she didn't lose her privileges...this time, but the loss stung a little.

"Yes, Chikuha?" she responded calmly to the quite angry looking woman. "Is something the matter?"

"Is something the matter? Is something the fucking matter?! Of course there is!" Chikuha gripped onto a small rock she had picked up. "You said nothing about the dog returning!"

Ashita glanced down to the closed fist of the explosive woman. "If you plan on using your quirk, you'll lose valuable information." she looked back up, with a slight smile on her face. "Besides, you only asked about the new prisoners, nothing about guards or the return of the guard dog."

"HNN!" Chikuha chucked the rock somewhere to the side, just as it exploded. Fuck, she was right. Damn it! "You could've at least warn me!"

"Once again, you never asked so I never told you. Also, do you really believe you'd stop if I did tell you?"

The significantly less angry prisoner's eyes lingered on Ashita. "...No..."

"I think that solves everything then."

"It doesn't! It really doesn't!"

Ashita didn't have much time to spend at the moment now. "Now if you excuse me, I have someone else who wants some info to attend to."

"We aren't done here!" the explosive girl had gotten in front of the dyed haired girl. "Sure, I didn't ask but you could've given me a heads up or something?"

"You still didn't ask."

"AAAAAH!"

Falling to her knees in a dramatic way, Chikuha had screamed to the heavens.

"But if it makes you feel better, I got something new to add." added the info broker, causing Chikuha to stop immediately. "I see I got your attention. Seems there's a fourth one."

"Oh?" her eyes widened a little at the new information. "Tell me more."

* * *

Jin sat outside with David after he had personally met with Fumma. There was the whole strength in numbers that the group offered, though not all prisoners took that deal.

" _So what's the catch?_ "

There had to be a catch to the situation. Fumma's group basically provided protection in the simplest form, his crew was essential for newbies like him to join, but after joining...then what? Become a lackey for the rest of your days in the prison? What about an out? Was it a permanent thing?

Jin had no idea, but there was also the fact that Fumma did nothing to warrant that he was to be trusted, sure he gave him some time to think about the offer, but what was that really? What was the catch?

"You okay, Jin?"

Jin looked up to see David shooting me a concerned look. "Ah, yeah I'm fine. Just thinking over some stuff."

"About Fumma's offer?" When Jin didn't even say a word at that, it became clear to David. "Ah, I see. Any thoughts about it?"

Jin glanced down a bit. "Unsure, really. It's a nice offer, but why?"

David crossed his arms, closing his eyes as he listened to Jin beginning to ramble out the offer. "Well, if you do consider taking it up, I would say to keep an eye out. Fumma seems to be more powerful than he lets on."

"Because of his crew?" Jin brought up, to which David shrugged.

"Hard to say, but that's probably it." mentioned the American. He had seen quite a few newbies that had joined Fumma's crew because of an unspoken rule to increase your chances of survival within the prison...then there were the prisoners who didn't care about that survival, as in the ones that killed those said newbies who thought they were truly protected cause they acted like they were the top dogs or invincible.

"Jin, if you do join, don't let the whole survival benefit get to your head." David said out of the blue. "I doubt it will protect you from everything if you do join it."

Jin nodded. He appreciated David's concern and advice, if he was to be honest, Jin wasn't expecting someone like David to help him out. He expected to be alone in Styx, so David's help was appreciated. "Don't worry David, I understand."

* * *

Akita watched as one of her girls had stopped her broadcast thanks to her quirk.

"It seems it was just Chikuha being Chikuha." came the voice of the woman sitting right next to her. "...and it seems the guard dog is back."

Upon saying that, most of the nearby women glanced cautiously at Akita. "Chikuha is always interesting in that regard," the smile on her face suddenly morphed into a slight frown. "Though she better be careful not to seriously harm my girls." It carried an odd motherly tone to it, and despite frowning at what Chikuha could of done, it held no real ill intent either.

No one said a word for a moment until Akita mumbled something under her breathe.

"That bitch..." it was just a low mumble that came from Akita, though this time it was directed towards the jackal as she held a rather annoyed look in her eyes. "She's like a brick wall."

Another woman coughed into her hand. "What should we do now?" she asked and only got a wave from the top bitch.

"Carry on as usual."

Then they scattered off, one by one, leaving Akita alone with her thoughts.

* * *

The sun shone down onto the courtyard as Sora swiped her brow. Currently the light bluish grey haired woman was wasting time with some of the outdoor gym equipment.

There wasn't much else to do.

"Ah, so it turns out I'm not the only one here." the voice that belonged only to Fushiko came from behind.

She immediately shot back, "no, really?"

"Man, the sarcasm was so thick I could use it to shield me from rain."

Sora rolled her eyes as she turned to see her fellow inmate. "You came here to kill time too?"

Fushiko shrugged with a smile as she went and sat down next to the tomboyish inmate. "Well, you can't kill time, it ends up killing you instead." She sported a grin that she shot towards the tomboy prisoner who rolled her eyes.

Sora then went to put down a small dumbbell next to the machine she was at. "Didn't really expect to see you come out here."

"Haha, I guess that's true, but it gets boring inside from time to time."

The boyish looking girl could agree with that, sometimes the prison was pretty quiet, at other times it was pretty hectic. Today seemed to be a much slower and quieter day.

"You going to join in?" she asked the taller woman with the flared bob haircut after a while as she gestured to the equipment around them.

Fushiko tilted her head in thought. "Nah, I'll just continue to talk with you for a little bit."

Sora sat down at another machine. "Suit yourself."

* * *

"Ah! Dahlia! It's been a while, hasn't it?" the elderly man that was Sagimaru Sukuinote smiled at the guard.

Dahlia was currently on duty as she turned to see the old man. "It has been a while."

"Haha, I see your hard at work."

The freckled guard kept her eyes on the old man. "You on your way out?" Sukuinote nodded at that. His business has come and gone, it was now time for him to return to his business and manage things there. "Took your sweet time."

"These old bones aren't like they used to be." He laughed joyfully as he made a beeline towards the doors.

"Sir, we're going to be late at this rate." came the voice of Sente, the assistant who opened said doors he was walking too.

The aged man just waved his hand. "I know, I know." He turned back towards Dahlia and gave her a smile. "It's good to see you fitting in with the place, Dahlia. Until next time."

Dahlia turned her attention back to her job, crossing her arms as she did, her dirty nails scratching at her sleeves before she heard ruckus coming from below, probably another minor brawl or argument, most likely the latter...and off she went.

* * *

Muika stood to the side of the room, a little nervous as she looked back to her current patient lying on the chair huddled up with his arms behind him, locked in place by handcuffs.

Thankfully their meeting was in the day, but a guard still stood by in the corner just in case her patient might act up. That's how it usually went with the inmates. Whenever one came in to see her, a guard was always standing by to act immediately to detain any signs of violence shown from the prisoners.

She considered herself lucky not to have any of her prisoners go crazy or just start swinging… " _I hope I just didn't jinx myself..._ "

After taking a few seconds to calm her nerves, she went and sat down on the chair opposite of the inmate, sending glances to some files about their previous meetings. "How are we feeling today, Rin?"

The bound Rin sat quietly on the chair, not really saying a word. More so, he was huddled up a little on the chair, refusing to lay down properly.

Muika glanced down to the folder she had opened, though did nothing else. " _Come on Muika, you can do it. He needs your help!_ " she gave herself a pep talk mentally before looking back up at the handcuffed prisoner with a smile on her face. "How's your progress?"

"..."

"Did you drink again...?"

She got a very slight nod in return. The silence was awkward, but Muika was also thankful for that, for a few reasons. "Don't give up though, Rin, you're doing very well so far. We all have a slip up now and then." she went to give him another smile, though he was too far occupied looking down at the ground.

It was then Muika realised that today was going to be a silent day for him, they usually were, but the previous ones he actually talked to her. She sighed to herself as she picked up a pen. " _Might as well mark down today's session._ "

As she went to take a file out of the folder to jot down some notes, the folder and pieces of paper, including the one she went to grab, fell to the ground suddenly.

"Ow..." muttered the counsellor as she glanced to her right hand, a little bit of blood was drawn from it. It was a shallow cut, enough for a little bit of blood to ooze out.

She had managed to give her a slight little cut.

" _Good one Muika._ " she silently scolded herself as she went to get a tissue to stop the little bit of blood before applying a bandage...only for Rin to sit up.

The blood freak began sniffing like a pet dog during mealtime, his gaze locked onto Muika, particularly her hand as the crimson fluid had appeared from her smooth and supple hand. His tongue poking out, licking his lips, hungry for the red liquid.

The black haired blood-licker leaned forward, focused solely on the blood that had popped out of Muika's hand while Muika was busy backing away slowly. It wasn't until a few seconds that Rin made his move, though unsuccessful in his attempts.

When Rin stood, the guard had immediately latched onto him with their arms, holding the handcuffed wearing prisoner back from trying to get to the droplet of blood. Once Muika had scurried back and managed to bandaged up her tiny cut, Rin had long forgotten about her wound and instead was focusing on the small blood puddle created from a single droplet on the floor.

"C-Calm down, Rin!" she waved her hands in a calming manner. "You don't need to drink any of that, okay?" she continued to calm him down as she cleaned up the small puddle.

Rin's eyes shone brightly, that bright red colour in his eyes glimmered as he tracked the blood. Oh how he wanted to drink it so badly.

"Maybe he should get a straitjacket?" the guard huffed, holding the prisoner back. It actually took awhile to get him to calm back down and by a while was the rest of of their session before it got too dark.

"I shall take him to his cell if your done."

Muika nodded in confirmation before the guard took the blood drinker and left her office.

Once he left, Muika crumbled down onto her chair. "I messed up..." she just hoped that her clumsiness in accidentally drawing blood wouldn't mess up the work with the blood addict.

She felt bad for Rin, she really did, and her drawing blood was like bring alcohol to an A.A meeting or something of that equivalent. She spent a couple of minutes in her chair before she went and gathered up the dropped documents before having to add updates to the file with a sigh.

* * *

The trip to the infirmary was pretty much how she expected it to go. Shi sat on a seat after being treated for light injuries as she was free of the prisoner she had caught.

Due to Chikuha's immunity to her own quirk, she was given a quick check up on any other injuries before pretty much having her wrist lightly slapped and given a warning about her co-ed ward privileges.

So now the Cerberus of Styx was getting one last look over, though these never took long.

"Alright, you're free to leave, Shi." a doctor with short, dark brown hair with a pair of seemingly coal black eyes that while not seeming tired in any way, seemed kinda bored. He raised his hand to shoo the guard, showing that while he had a fair complexion, his fingers and thumbs were entirely black (on both hands) and didn't look to be fingers as they not only lacked fingernails but were smooth at the touch and definitely not soft like the rest of his skin.

This was one of the two head doctors of Styx: Lambert Rask.

Shi nodded and offered her thanks with a low grumble.

The doctor ran his hand through his hair as the other head doctor of Styx had walked over. "Lambert, we need you to restrain a patient in case they wake up, there's a high probability of them going into shock upon regaining consciousness."

This other doctor had long bright red hair that reach down past her shoulder blades with orange tips at the end with a pair of yellow matching eyes. Her skin was similar to Lambert's but slightly more tanned. This was the other head doctor: Carna Angitia.

The doctor lazily waved his hand, "Alright, Carna."

Shi glanced over to the patient, an inmate before sending a look to the doctors who were dressed in common doctor garbs and coats you would see in a hospital.

"Ah, the prisoners? Yeah, there have been more fights between inmates, though we've started to get a few rare ones with some more serious injuries."

"Injuries?" Shi had fought a lot of inmates during her time in Styx, she was the Guard Dog after all. It wasn't uncommon for prisoners to get injured like this, especially by other prisoners.

Lambert gave out a sigh as he looked over to the inmate. "It's just more of a workload for us, really."

Shi's vision went from doctor to inmate as she scratched the side of her neck in thought while Carna just shook her head. "It's fine though, we don't get these types often."

"What about the other prisoners that were involved in the fighting that put them here?" the jackal spoke up, keeping her eyes on the patient.

"You mean by motives?" Lambert looked back to her before shrugging halfheartedly. "Asides from not really caring, there's a lot of different reasons and people. It's hard to pinpoint if we try to get the answer from every inmate."

Carna dug her hands into the pockets of her coat. "I just hope that these don't become too common place..."

"What about the prisoners that would do this sort of thing?" the guard dog gave both doctors a look, surely there had to be something.

Lambert rubbed the back of his head. "That's another thing, when I said hard to pinpoint, that included the usual suspects. For example, one of them was found with a broken arm when one of the usual perpetrators, Gousen, was still locked up in his cell."

"When we checked in with those suspects, a quick investigation showed that they didn't do it, and there are way too many inmates to go through." Carna continued, gesturing to some bounded inmates. "We aren't like Tartarus who have much smaller numbers than ours in terms of prisoners, besides, most of these prisoners here though are just in for minor injuries from some brawls and scuffles, as usual, like Chikuha's stunt earlier..."

Shi sat silently for a while. Now she knew why they were considered rare if they usual perpetrators didn't cause it. "Do the wardens know about this?"

The duo shot a look at each other, before Carna had nudged her fellow doctor. "Geez, fine." the dark brown haired doctor mumbled. "Long answer: no."

This had immediately caused Cerberus to narrow her eyes at the two, but Lambert raised his hand, he had more to say.

"There's a reason we didn't report this in, and that's simply because we have nothing to say that this wasn't just a normal attack. We've gone through many of these attacks before and not to mention the whole pinpointing deal. Hell, it's mostly likely some prisoners getting more violent in the moment, like how a person gets more angry at a person they hate. To sum it up: there's nothing _to_ report. It's just the same as before."

The collar wearing jackal said nothing but nodded. "Thanks, now we have to treat these inmates." Carna politely bowed before the two doctors quickly got into their work, leaving Shi to do what she pleased.

Shi closed her eyes and stood, she said no word as she left. She had a job to do after all, it would be a waste of time if she stayed around any longer.

* * *

Instead of heading back towards her cell, Sae ended up having to take a detour. On her way back to her cell, she was pretty much blocked off from returning so soon, they wouldn't let her back in after grabbing a meal, then again, she spent a lot of time inside her cell...

This left her with little to do and she didn't want to spend anymore time around the other criminals and villains of the prison, so she decided to go to the one place not that many people go to.

The prison library.

Of course, there were three distinct libraries, one for each ward with the co-ed ward having a much wider collection to choose from. The co-ed ward also had a lot less people in it as well, making it the ideal place for her to spend some time in peace.

When she finally got to the library, it was pretty big. Plenty of tables, chairs and even lounges were spread around the room with many tall bookshelves crammed full of books all aligned neatly. It was pretty organised. The convict didn't really have a particular book that she was looking for as he emerald green eyes absorbed the titles on the many books, just waiting for one to pop out to her. It didn't take long before she picked out a book at random as she went to the nearest lounge.

Though as Sae sat down, she had noticed another figure in the library reading a book as she quickly recognised the oleander flowers scattered throughout the reader's light green hair while her facial expression didn't change much.

Yua only glanced away from her book once, and that when she sent a glance towards Sae. It was mostly to check who it was, but upon seeing Sae, she went back to her book as they sat a fair distance apart from each other.

The library was a quiet place and both preferred it that way.

The two just sat in silence as they read their own books. Sae appreciated the silence as did Yua, for a time. "You don't seem to be reading your book." the flower girl spoke up with that calm tone of hers, pausing her reading as she did.

"Does it matter?" Sae's tone wasn't that friendly, but wasn't alright hostile. "It's serving its purpose as a waste of time."

Yua turned a smidgen to face her a bit more, glancing down to the book the other prisoner was reading. "If you read a book you are interested in or already like, time will go much faster for you."

Sae had stopped reading her book, it was true. This book wasn't something she was all that interested in, it was more suited for a college student than anything. "Wouldn't that also work in reverse? If I just read the ones I like, it would grow boring over time."

Yua tapped her chin for a moment. "Perhaps, but it's better than reading a book you have no interest in."

Sae watched as Yua picked up where she left off at with her book as she looked down at hers, the book she didn't care for. She supposed it might be better to at least find a better read, there was a large collection here after all. Hopefully she could find one.

* * *

Nothing much usually happened out in the open of the male ward, it was something Rhys through about every so often, it was a bit boring at times, though that wasn't including minor brawls by the less memorable prisoners. It was something he was also glad for as he just stared at the back of the giant that was Kuroishi.

He then sent a look to the prisoner beside him a few seats down, who was doing their own thing before a slight smile appeared on his face before looking back at the others such as Kuroishi. " _There's so many strong people here..._ "

However, as Rhys was glancing at other people that were in the room, he failed to notice the shadow that began to peer over him. Fortunately for him, he noticed the motion of the shadow afterwards and dodged out of the way as a fist was brought down onto the table.

" _What the hell—_ " the bruised prisoner then looked up to see the one responsible. " _Ah fuck._ "

There stood Gousen, and while his face was devoid of any emotion, his eyes shone with a clear, deep hatred that burned like the pits of hell.

Rhys' eyes quickly went from Gousen to the figure behind the prisoner. Another inmate who was faced down on the cold floor with their arm twisted the other way before he quickly set his eyes on Gousen.

Sadly, this wasn't a rare occurrence, it was quite expected from Gousen who threw another punch in which Rhys had to roll away from as his mind was racing. " _Shit! Why me of all people here?_ "

"Tch." Gousen glared right at Rhys as he watched him roll out of the way.

Rhys was definitely in a pickle. Gousen attacked any prisoner, he attacked indiscriminately...at least most of the time. He had to admit that Gousen was strong, but he cursed the situation he had found himself in.

Meanwhile, Kuroishi looked over towards the attack from Gousen, but wasn't that surprised by it. The long haired individual just watched as Rhys evaded another one of Gousen's attacks, but it was clear who the victor of that match would be.

Rhys might've been dodging left and right at the couple of swings, but Gousen had just started his attacks and from some previous prisoners, he could get a lot more brutal. Kuroishi knew of the outcome somewhat well, Gousen was a wall of muscle after all.

Was there a chance for Rhys to emerge victorious? Of course, there is always that possibility, but right now? No.

The giant didn't have any real reason to step in. Rhys wasn't someone he would jump in and save, while the only time he had trouble with Gousen was when he tried to attack him. Kuroishi did think about alerting one of the guards, but they were probably already on their way.

"Already out of your cell and you're going to get yourself locked right back up..." the giant mumbled before he put the fight behind him. He'd let the guards or another prisoner deal with that.

Rhys spotted Kuroishi leaving as the hatred in Gousen's eyes got a little bit more intense compared to before. Rhys thankfully spotted another prisoner and made a beeline for them. " _I don't need this attention! Come on, Gousen!_ "

Mentally panicking aside, he felt a fist crash into his back, sending him flying, thankfully in the direction of the prisoner he was running towards.

Rhys had managed to crash onto the table that Gin was sitting at, the inmate in the black, plastic-like, full body outfit didn't even flinch when Rhys had just crashed on the table in front of him.

" _Jesus! That hurt!_ " Rhys rolled off the table before Gousen had stomped over before his eyes locked with Gin's own. It was oddly silent between the two before Gin stood, as he stood, he didn't even look at Rhys who was already planning on getting out of there. Thankfully for Rhys, the pain wasn't nearly as bad as that previous inmate with the twisted arm.

Not in the slightest.

Rhys wondered when the guards would come and was ready to flee as soon as Gousen engaged with the greyish skinned inmate.

"What are you looking at?" Gin growled as Gousen's expression didn't change at all.

"I didn't get a chance the chance to break your bones when I was let out." the wall of muscle that was Gousen spoke up after all this time. "I'll remedy that now."

The grey eyed inmate in the full-body suit didn't take too kindly for that. "Whatever makes you think you can?"

It was now that Rhys backed off and snuck away from the two. When he looked back, he was certain that a fight was going to break out, so he positioned himself ready to leave should a guard arrive or if Gousen shifted his attention back onto him.

He wondered who would strike first.

* * *

 **Whoa! A chapter so soon?! Haha, surprise. Back in the groove baby, but yeah, chapter time.**

 **Anyways, here we gooooo. A quick little talk about quirks, since I'm going to introduce each person's quirks as they're introduced, not all information on those quirks will be shown out right if there's something more to them. Just some basic explanations of the quirks.**

 **See you all next time :D**


	9. Ruckus and Rumours

**Hey, welcome back to another chapter! Just want to say this right away, your characters can and will lose some fights and can win others, b** **ut now, onto reviews!**

 **Gold crown dragon: I love it too :D**

 **Guest: Haha, I guess it sort of does in a way.**

 **Oblivious IJ: I mean, yeah it would be possible, any object she touches can be turned into a bomb, but less dress break and more messy giblets on the floor. Also, I really hate Issei so… haha thanks!**

 **Nemris: Thanks, I'm looking forward to it too. I do wish to explore more of each character's criminal history (as well as normal history), but hopefully you'll see sprinkles of it throughout. I don't want to rush and dump everything all at once, so hopefully I'm spacing it out enough.**

 **Supreme Kai of Booty: Yep, that's your giant child. Also, hope you had a wonderful birthday!**

 **FinnyFaloulou: Haha, well here's some more then!**

* * *

Rhys stood back, ready to get away as soon as it looked like he was about to be dragged into it somehow. The two were still staring each other down, but the atmosphere changed drastically to the point where you could take a knife and physically cut some off for later.

The bruised prisoner stepped back a bit, despite the safe distance he had put between him and the two having a glare off.

It was then that the battle between the two occurred. It all started with a swift punch.

Gousen had moved first, immediately hurling a punch towards Gin, but due to the bolted down table between them, Gin had plenty of room to dodge the attack. That didn't stop Gousen from stomping over the table to get to him though.

The thick wall that was Gousen went for another while Gin simple moved to the side and retaliated with one of his one, though sadly, while the attack connected, it did little to harm the opposing convict.

The bald prisoner simply grinned before he kicked Gin away before charging in with a reared back fist before throwing a powerful punch.

"You claimed you wanted to break my 'bones'..." the greyish skinned prisoner used his slim body to duck under the attack, "...and despite your claims, this is all you have to offer?"

Gin landed an uppercut on the taller and older man, this time managing to force Gousen's vision upwards. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gin continued his attack, staying on the offensive with a barrage of punches...to little effect as he almost fell to the ground after a sudden leg sweep to his left leg.

"Is that all you got to offer?" Gousen grinned darkly, sending his words back to him. "Seems like your words are just full of shit too!"

" _Seems my attacks left little to no effect. His quirk is certainly useful in a fight..._ "

Despite being one of the brick walls of the prison, Gousen's natural defence was also enhanced by his quirk.

 _Resistance: This quirk grants Gousen the ability to toughen up his skin, resisting all sorts of attacks including things like bullets and blades to even some elements like fire and electricity! Though, he can't keep it up for long and will become vulnerable again after ten minutes at most and of course, despite the resistance, it doesn't make him immune!_

" _Heh, then I guess my quirk is a good counter then._ " Gin's body started to smoulder like cinders as the greyish tone of his skin started to become black as coal with some sparks as his body began to burn, as he burned, a low heat started to emit from him. " _Let's see if you resist all these punches._ "

"Oh?" Gousen clenched his fist. "You're struggling to the point of using your quirk? Don't worry, you won't have to struggle any long—" Gin's fist slammed into his face, causing him to fumble back a little as he rubbed his face.

He actually felt that one.

"Struggling? You think I'm struggling?" With a swift motion of his hand, taunting his opponent, the smouldering man still had that cold and uncaring look plastered on his face. "I just want to end this quickly. I have better things to do than to entertain you. So, let's see if you can take my punches now."

 _Burn Out: Gin can burn his own body mass (which is infused with high energy-rich tissue) in return for increased physical power to which he can continue burning! The more intense the burning, the more energy is released to increase his physical power, though only for a limited time due to the burning process of his physical form in basic terms!_

Rhys who had been watching on the sidelines swiped his brow, thinking, waiting. It was a perfect opportunity in many ways. Should he leave or should he stay?

"Take this on for size." the older man threw jab after jab. While a few thrown punches landed, Gin was definitely using his (slowly increasing) slim build to his advantage to avoid most of the attacks before landing a clean hit against the prisoner called Gousen.

"Tch." Gousen continued his assault, though the two had moved quite a fair bit away from the table at the start of the fight.

Since the start of this fight, Gousen only had one goal in mind.

 _Destroy this parasite in front of him._

His current opponent definitely wasn't the first and he'd be damned if they'd be the last. He didn't have much time as he chose to tank the oncoming attacks, the guards would be here soon and they always stopped him.

Always.

This was his only chance in the foreseeable future to break these husks, even kill these fellow inmates. Of course, this opponent was one that had proved to be quite resistant to the whole beat down and murder thing, he _was_ just going to break his bones, but the more they fought, something made him crack.

He wanted to squish this bug!

He _needed_ to squish this bug!

Gousen suddenly charged forward before wildly swinging at the younger inmate, who dodged backwards and landed a kick to his chin thanks to the sudden opportunity, though once again, it didn't do too much.

"Seems I need to burn a little brighter." the uncaring tone of Gin scoffed, ready to put a dent into that armour of his as he stumbled back a bit, Gousen had landed a strong hit to his side.

Gousen was strong physically, there was no denying that, but that was it. At this moment, this was it, this was the strength he had built for himself as his quirk didn't increase his own physical strength like Gin's quirk seemed to do.

To Gin, that sole thought was enough.

It was truly a battle of endurance. A firing line of cannons vs the thick wall of a fortress.

As the two fought, blow for blow. Gousen tanked the hits while Gin used his slim body to dodge most of the punches as he landed his own. Gousen had to admit, the fight went on longer than he expected, and the longer it went, the more wild his attacks were. Losing any type of regular fighting strategy and exchanged for a 'if it hits, it hits' type of strategy. Though, it could be argued that it never changed much at all.

When a tide crashes against the side of a cliff, the ocean falls back down before crashing into it again. However, it is possible for the wave to fly high into the sky, higher than the cliff if only just an extra inch, but that of course cuts it off from falling into the ocean again once it lands on the cliff. It had managed to surpass the cliff in that moment, but...

The smouldering man landed a clean and strong punch right into Gousen's abdomen, though it felt tougher than before as when Gin retracted his hand, he had noticed that his left hand, smouldering like cinders like the rest of him, had multiple cracks, lost a pinky finger and of course...laid on the floor, broken in two.

...it lost a part of itself when it did.

" _Shit,_ " this thought surprisingly came from Gousen, finding himself more resilient than before, " _I used my quirk too much. I need to kill this parasite quickly!_ "

"Guess I haven't burned enough." Gin reared back his still remaining fist. As his left hand laid on the ground, there was no sign of blood whatsoever and the fact it fell off didn't even faze the smouldering man a bit as the 'cinders' seemed brighter than before. "This next punch will end this."

Before the fight could reach its conclusion, it seemed other people had something else in mind.

"You two need to freeze."

The two found themselves unable to move when a flash of light appeared from nowhere. Both were stuck in place and had trouble moving.

" _That's my cue to leave!_ " Rhys quickly ducked around the corner and ran. " _Perhaps next time..._ "

As Rhys fled the scene, a new figure had walked onto the stage. "To think, I would have to intervene in the male ward."

In walked a female guard, while her outfit was the same as many of the other guards, her outfit was coloured snow white than the green the others had while her black boots seemed to have some extra height with the heels. She lacked a hat as her neck length, smooth white hair had managed to come down and cover her right eye completely, leaving her other blue, lens-like eye to the world. The guard also had a rather pale complexion and wore an extra coat over top of her outfit that seemed to have fake white fur around the collar area and yet the coat stuck on her without falling. She also had some black lipstick applied too.

Yukiko Yukimura, one of the higher up guards of the female ward.

" _What's one of the female ward higher up guards doing here?_ " The one that lost a hand wondered. It wasn't an unusual occurrence, they're had been times when guards from the male ward had entered the female ward and vice versa, especially during brawls and patrol. Some days, it was common, other times, it was rare.

They mostly resided in their assigned wards though, much like the prisoners unless it involved the co-ed ward. It was always a surprise when it was a higher up one that appeared. It raised questions about what might be happening.

"Now come on boys, I don't really have much time to spare with your antics."

After a few seconds, the two soon regained the ability to move freely, until Gousen clenched his teeth together, glaring right at Yukiko.

When he took a single step towards her, Yukiko's eyes gave off a bright flash, freezing them in place once more. Her quirk was definitely one that put a stop to a lot of infighting.

 _Freeze Frame: Her eyes have a flash similar to that of a camera, those within her sight when the flash occurs are frozen in place for a few seconds, though direct eye contact can have a longer effect in comparison._

Gin had no idea what to make of this really as he then spied the entourage of cloned guards behind her. " _Why is she here? Did something happen? Or was she just the closest guard on site?_ "

The army of clones had surrounded them, though their attention was more on Gousen than him, which was actually very calming. Gousen attacked indiscriminately towards most of the other prisoners and because of that, at times, his victims were left off the hook on most cases when it came to the question of who started the fight.

Which was good for him, seeing as he wouldn't be punished as much for this particular fight.

For now, Gin conceded, not to Gousen but to the guards and their numbers as he looked down to his where his left hand used to be as he then twitched his thumb. It wouldn't take long now, but a fire could do him some good.

One of the clone guards looked down at his wrist and down to the broken, unmoving hand. "You need a furnace?"

"No," was the cold tone of the prisoner. "It'll be fine on its own."

The clone of Bunri shrugged as he began to evaporate before he was no more, while Gin had the pleasure of watching Gousen being escorted out. During this time, he briefly wondered about Rhys, but that wasn't his problem anymore. So he left, leaving the broken remnants of his old left hand behind for the cleaners.

* * *

Inyoku leaned against the wall, he had heard some interesting events that had occurred recently from passing guards and inmates.

There was one thing that bothered him about that, and that was the simple fact that he had missed it! Overhearing it got him kind of pumped up, but alas, his luck wasn't that great today as he missed the exciting events.

The rattlesnake was bored.

Inyoku then grinned behind his dark blue, silk scarf as his tail began to wag suddenly as he then started to follow a person, someone who had managed to capture his interest for the time being.

He wore the orange jumpsuit most prisoners wore, but opted not to use the upper half as it was hanging down behind him, showing off his bare, muscular chest. However, he did have a white scarf wrapped around his neck with a single 'tail' flowing in the wind behind him. He also had a pair of black, fingerless gloves and a dark brown, wide-brimmed hat that seemed like it almost belonged in the wild west. It sat quite comfortable on top of his head, managing to head most of his facial features, mainly since he pulled the brim down at the front a bit as he turned to face the rattlesnake.

Upon letting the brim go and looking up a little, a part of his short, whitish grey hair could be seen as his bright yellow eyes locked with Inyoku's own yellow eyes when he finally stopped to turn to face him.

"Hey," the rather friendly tone from Inyoku oozed out. "How about we go a round or two?"

Not a word was said as the two stood outside as a gust of wind drifted past, causing the flowing tail of the man's scarf to wave in the breeze while Inyoku's scarf sat comfortably around his neck.

After a few seconds, with Inyoku ready to go and leap into action, the man raised his hand, ceasing any action from the snake.

"I'm busy."

That ceased Inyoku's tail wagging almost immediately.

Everyone was busy! Well, mostly everyone, there were a few lowlifes in the prison that attacked him, returning challengers, but they were all weak. Couldn't even last that long against him!

It did provide some temporary fun, but nothing lasting.

So why were the interesting people that caught his eye always busy?!

Inyoku then hissed.

He didn't want to wait anymore, but before he could lunge into battle, the man swayed his finger back and forth. "Now, now. Hold on there pardner."

Inyoku-Yui's tail began to rattle and shake in response, making that iconic rattlesnake noise. The opposing man had his hands right near his hips as if he was about to draw a gun on the snake he faced. "If you really want to have a brawl right now, then by all means, be my guest, but I think fighting right now is rather pointless."

"I don't really care." the snake hissed rather cheerfully in response as he seemed to get that fight he had been waiting for for quite some time now.

His opponent sighed. "I understand your need for battle, but aren't challenges like this boring to you?"

The snake's tail ceased its movements. "What do you mean? Of course not, it's the most fun thing here!"

The brimmed hat man sighed. "I see, how—"

He suddenly moved to the side as Inyoku had lunged forward as the shirtless man had to suddenly back off from the snake's tail as that too swung at him after dodging the initial lunge.

He really did want to fight.

"I thought you said you would fight me?" the snake stayed crouched after his lunge, his head turned around just enough to look at the man with the longer scarf who didn't seem to happy with the sudden attack.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." and those words just put a smile on the rattlesnake's face.

"Ah, so you'll fight me now?!"

The man was in the same position as before until he put a hand on his face. "You distracted me."

When he sent a look towards the prison building, Inyoku immediately butted in, trying to distract him once more. "Don't you think about getting the guard's involved! I'm not wasting this opportunity!" He wasn't going to let him get away!

"Tch."

"...what's so important, anyway?" asked the snake with narrowed eyes. It was almost like whiplash due to the constant want for battle earlier.

The man shrugged, never letting his guard down. "Just some...plans, that's all. Not like you care enough to get a proper answer."

"...does it involve something...exciting?"

The man said nothing as he watched Inyoku settle into a more relaxed position. Inyoku, seeing his opponent still on edge stood tall and faced him directly. "Go on and finish your business, but if it's boring or predictable...I'll make sure to make this fight happen, regardless of what circumstances occur."

Inyoku walked past the bare chested man who was still on guard, he only dropped said guard when the prison snake had put some fair distance between them.

" _That was a close one._ " thought the wide-brimmed hat man, though he knew that Inyoku would come back searching for a fight with him, so he had to stay on his toes. " _I almost had to waste time with him, but I guess I did end up wasting more time than expected._ "

It was then that the man had continued on his path.

* * *

Reiji messed with the meal on his table, not particularly hungry today. His 'meal' was interrupted as he looked up to see a prisoner, grinning ear to ear.

The prisoner, while not a newbie, had spent some solid time in Styx for a while and seemed to be quite cocky as he had managed to get the few members of the table to listen to him, as if he had formed a clique.

It seemed he was growing pretty quickly within these walls, not enough to land a name for himself around the prison, but he was gaining some notable power judging by the others seated at that table he was at, under his orders.

Reiji's eyes darted over to the back of the prison mess hall, where Fumma and his group had been eating at, though while Fumma wasn't there anymore, some lackeys were.

There was a difference between the two, Fumma and the boastful prisoner at the table surrounded by his own 'lackeys', and that thing was the lasting power.

Sure, the two had respect to some degree from those around them and power that deserved that respect, but Fumma out shined him in that...by a long shot despite how quickly he (the boastful prisoner) had climbed to get a small decent following for someone who wasn't apart of Fumma's group, and with that, the ability to climb higher was present.

Hence why the difference between them was lasting power. Fumma and his group (or just his group) could easily destroy the group so it couldn't reform to what it was now and that's why the slowly rising prisoner didn't have much lasting power.

Fumma could be dethroned or even give up the position, but his lasting power was much greater than the other prisoners, you can still feel threatened by the man and he could get back to his throne if he wanted to, or hell, start a new group while this prisoner could be defeated and thrown off his throne, no one would remember or felt threatened by him. There was no throne to return home to for him.

Just another prisoner at the end of the day.

When it comes to the hierarchy of Styx, the inmate hierarchy, some prisoners cemented themselves into its current history, like Fumma, while others could be toppled, thrown out and disposed off and wouldn't even leave a mark.

Which was why they were easy.

They could lose all the fear and respect they could or did gain.

So that must be why, once that very same prisoner got up and walked with his troupe, that a punch was thrown.

They had a look of shock on their face as they punched another inmate, as if they had no idea what they just did, as they just punched the back of the prisoner's head.

Then it erupted.

He had punched the wrong prisoner, who immediately punched back. This of course caused the prisoner to hit other prisoners who weren't involved, it was getting other groups to fight other groups when the lackeys joined in. Reiji, in all of this, just chose to watch it all unfold.

He watched the prisoner mess up his own attacks, missing and failing to dodge any punches, kicks or quirks sent his way while the observer wiggled and flexed his fingers.

As the male ward mess hall was suddenly thrown into disarray, as many prisoners began to fight one another, they all started to topple over in a matter of seconds.

Some fell to the ground, others were trying their best to stand but...the heat was too much. They were all frying, hell, they could see the heat waves in the air!

All of them, were sweating profusely, even if they didn't collapse on the floor.

Reiji struggled with the heat as he glanced up at the one responsible and paled almost immediately. It was almost enough to freeze him despite the ridiculous amounts of heat that poured in waves over them.

Standing a couple of floors above them, watching them all fight and drop to their knees was none other than Tai Yonamine, also known as the worst possible person to show up to stop prison brawls.

Why?

Cause he didn't hold back in the slightest as he subjugated all of them to his quirk and didn't even release it when he oversaw the suffering. They were dying of heat over there!

"You damn inmates..." he pulled down his cap with his left hand as his right hand sat out comfortable to the side with the palm facing towards the ceiling. "...it really seems you all want to die today!"

Floating or hovering above his right hand was a ball of fire, more accurately it was currently a ball of white light at this very moment! That was the cause of the inmates suffering and sweating from the heat as the ball of brightly burning light seemed to be bigger than that of a regular car tyre.

 _Miniature Sun: Tai's quirk allows him to basically create a miniature sun! Tai can also control its size and it's temperature!_

Tai simply raised his hand, causing many of the aware prisoners to freak out, those who knew of Tai's actions of course. " _H-He's going to throw it!_ "

The guard almost sent the ball of flames right down at the inmates below but he sighed and with a swift and fluid motion, dispersed the flames as he waved his hand away, pulling out a phone from his pocket with the other hand, that seemed to survive the heat.

"Tch," he shot the inmates a dirty look before answering the phone. "Yeah?"

Reiji let his head hit the table. Now that the immediate source of heat was gone, it almost evaporated immediately, though it was definitely still warm and uncomfortable. " _He was really going to throw it at us!_ " a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

The scary part of it was, it wasn't even the first time he did that. Tai had used his quirk on the inmates before, and not just the heat to control them, he actually sent his ball of fire and heat at the inmates before and thankfully, it wasn't anything like the real sun in terms of heat or anything, but it still left people badly hurt. It was technically just an orb of fire he could create and that had to be one of the more brightest Reiji had even seen it!

His quirk was nothing to scoff at and was an assured path that lead to a direct death.

Some people even suffered burns from the quirk in the past. Tai was ruthless when he needed or wanted to be.

Reiji managed to pry himself away from the table. He wanted out of this heat, but he had to wait and wait he will. He had hope.

* * *

Alexios walked through the male ward, keeping an eye on each prisoner he had walked past, making sure they were well in line.

He did after all hear about Tai's usual stunt to get the inmates to settle down after a brawl had broken out. Some inmates did in fact go to the infirmary after that little surprise.

The guard stopped as he had a look outside as he saw two convicts that seemed pretty interested in what seemed to be a card game. The problem here was that they were there for a while. " _How many hours did they spend there?_ " he wondered as he began to approach them.

The closer he got, the more things got clearer to him. It looked to be a stalemate. A stalemate that has been going on for hours. Alexios did consider leaving them to their match, but they have been sitting outside for so long when he soon recognised who exactly they were and they had no intention of stopping their match any time soon.

The tall, olive skinned guard scratched the back of his neck, thinking over it.

While the sun had yet to set, it was probably a good idea to stop their match, especially when it seemed to be a standstill for quite some time. So he acted.

"Okay you two, time to close up shop for today." he smiled down at the two prisoners engaged in their card game.

Johnny said nothing but Zuko did as he glanced up at the man, "ah man. We have yet to reach a conclusion..."

Alexios sighed with crossed arms. "As much as I would like to let you two continue, you two would be stuck here until other guards come to take you to your cells."

Johnny then placed his hand face down onto the table. He was right, as much as he wanted to settle this challenge, there was no point continuing it if more hands on guards approached and it seemed Zuko understood that too. "Very well. Perhaps we can finish this at a later date." though, Johnny somewhat doubted they would, but it was possible.

When Johnny left, Zuko just gave a polite smile as he stood up, planning on leaving too. "Weeeeeell, I better get going too then~"

Alexios watched as Zuko headed off in the same direction as Johnny while he picked the cards up from the desk, shuffling them as he did. " _Good to see that they're spending their time improving themselves._ "

One day, these prisoners will one day return to society as reformed and model citizens. Alexios stopped to look at the prison yard, lost in thought for a moment before he too, headed back inside to his usual patrol route.

* * *

The new guard of Styx looked around the cafeteria that was currently closed off to prisoners now that the nightly curfew was in effect.

"Uh, what are we doing here?" Hokori asked as Osamu, who was instructed to help the new guy out, guided him around the cafeteria. As far as Hokori knew, he was just a guard and was unsure if he had to cook for the prisoners.

"I know you've been on the tour before, but we also have a duty when it comes to the prisoner's meals. Most of the time, the canteen staff handles the cooking, as well as the more trustworthy prisoners, but at times, we need to lend a hand in meal production, don't worry though, it's not a common thing." Osamu explained as they walked around the kitchen.

"Ah, so we're just extra hands should they need it."

Osamu nodded slowly, "that's right, and it's mostly during the night shift too because of certain prisoners being night owls and..." Osamu stopped as he just stared in front of him.

Hokori was confused for a second until he followed Osamu's gaze as he spied another guard he had met briefly before, Tai if he was correct. His tail froze a little at the aura this man was generating around him before said guard approached them, and Hokori almost forgot how to breathe if it wasn't for Osamu's hand on his shoulder.

It was then something Hokori had never seen was dropped onto the table when he was caught unaware. "W-What is that?" he peered at the contents and honestly, it looked like...a loaf?

"It's called nutraloaf."

"...Tai...you can't serve that to the prisoners..." Osamu sighed, looking at the loaf.

"They deserve to eat this slop, dumbass." Tai growled. "We already gave them enough decent food when it comes to the co-ed ward, hell even allowing them to use plastic utensils in the first place!"

The fennec fox's ears twitched at the mention of the name. "Nutraloaf?" His innocent question had managed to stop the two experienced guards from a quarrel.

"Ah, well—"

Osamu was cut off when Tai gestured to the loaf. "Why don't you take a bite, then you'll see what it is."

Hokori poked at the loaf before he took a piece of it and plopped it into his mouth and began to chew...and chew...and chew…

It was then Hokori realised…

" _This isn't food..._ "

The nutraloaf wasn't bad, it was just…very bland. If Hokori had to compare it to something, it would be similar to of cardboard.

"Uh…" he didn't know what to say about the nutraloaf, but he definitely would prefer anything else other than this punishment of a meal.

"Nutraloaf is a meal blended from previous days' meals, and usually served to prisoners who misbehaved." Osamu sent a glance to Tai who seemed to be taking some of the loaf to a prisoner. "It's very bland and cardboard-like, but it does have all of the vitamins and nutrients that are needed to survive."

The guard then turned to Tai. "It's also unethical."

"Fuck off, they're criminals. It's a punishment for them and it helps reduce the violence the bottom feeders cause."

"That's not the point, not all of them are the worst of the worst! You shouldn't give that to the prisoners." It was then Tai gave him a look.

"You didn't hear? As soon as Gousen was released from his cell, he immediately went and attacked other prisoners, so he is now stuck eating nutraloaf."

"He attacked another prisoner?!" Osamu's jaw dropped all the while Hokori just looked confused.

"Bingo. One prisoner has a broken arm, two prisoners have bruises all over their body and another single prisoner just has a bruise from a punch to the face. There was one more, but no harm was done in the long term."

Osamu watched as Tai pick the nutraloaf up. "I'm going to give that prisoner his _well deserved_ meal now." Once again, that aura had returned, causing Hokori to freeze up. "But I see your point."

"Thank—"

"I should have added rat poison."

"Tai!" It seemed that he didn't see his point after all as he had already left, causing Osamu to sigh. "God damn it, Tai."

After sighing, Osamu glanced down at the small fox. "Sorry, Hokori. Tai can be a bit...extreme when it comes to the inmates."

Deciding that he should get Osamu's mind off the previous conversation, Hokori gestured to the rest of the kitchen. "How about we continue the whole kitchen thing?"

"Right, we should get this done before it's too late. Is there anything else you want to know before we continue?"

Hokori didn't really know what to ask, so he went with a basic one seeing as they were in one of the prison's kitchens after all. "Asides from the nutraloaf, what kind of food do the inmates eat here?"

"A variety of food, really. You can expect to find a lot of international dishes here too, such as kongbap, a staple in Korean prisons with various mixtures of rice, grains, peas, and beans. We do have our own version of mystery meat, porridge and ričet, an European barley, beans, vegetables and pork stew." The less experienced guard's tail wagged a little as he listened to Osamu continue on. "There's also gruel."

"Gruel?"

"It's a food that consist of either cereal oats, wheat, rye flour or rice-boiled in water or milk, it's like a thinner version of porridge that is more often drunk."

"Huh." the fox then thought to himself, " _so that kind of thing exists..._ "

"Inmates can also 'purchase' food from the prison commissary, which can include: chocolate bars, beef jerky, honey, peanut butter, bread, ramen noodles, coffee, and snack cakes." Osamu revealed, but immediately followed that up with, "though, that's a co-ed ward bonus, along with some more proper meals you'd expect."

"How do they pay for it?"

Osamu, without skipping a beat replied, "the same way that got into the co-ed ward, they don't really purchase it, they can acquire them, but there's a daily limit on how much they can take. Sorry if I confused you, purchased just felt better to say."

"It... makes sense."

"Anyways, inmates are provided three meals a day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner." Osamu had picked up a menu and handed it towards the new guard. "On that is just some meals they have access to, of course, this does not include the co-ed ward."

"Oh."

As Hokori read the menu, it didn't seem that bad. For example, some meals consisted of chicken, pork, coleslaw and so much more. There was a lot of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, especially lunch and dinner. The only thing stopping that whole 'lot of options' were the fact that the meals were assigned to days unless it was the weekend.

That was until Osamu handed him the co-ed ward menu which had a lot more freedom as the assigned days for meals wasn't as prominent on it and some meals sounded much better too.

Hokori kinda felt his mouth water as he read some of the descriptions. "That should be the most of it." the older guard said as the fox handed back the menu. "Let's call it a day."

"Right!"

The fox then followed the older guard out as the kitchen lights were turned off for the night.

* * *

A woman sat in the female ward, under the sun as she threw a small tennis ball up into the air, catching it with ease every time before throwing it again. Her eyes darted to different prisoners who were also doing outdoor activities for the day while they could before the sun disappeared into the shadows and night took over once more.

She was wearing the black, striped outfit that most prisoners had, but on top of that, she had a mantle that rested on her back that didn't seem to obey gravity and stuck to her back for the most part, it was black in colour and seemed to be made out of feathers.

This woman had a somewhat tanned complexion with short, ear-length, black hair that was swept to the sides at the front, as to not obscure her vision that was granted to her with her pale red eyes surrounded by purple eye-shadow.

She caught the ball one last time before narrowing her eyes on a few prisoners as a smirk overtook her features. She simply raised her left hand and gave them all the finger before that smirk evolved into a grin as the sunset slowly disappeared as darkness crawled over the world.

* * *

Sora stared up at the ceiling of her cell, but couldn't for the life of her, get to sleep. She felt...a little agitated and didn't know why.

Her cell had two neighbours. Located to the left of her cell, resided one of Akita's followers and located to the right of her cell, was Koneko of all people and speaking of which, she had met with her right before she had called it quits for the night.

Yet, despite trying, she just could not fall asleep and began thinking, " _why?_ "

When she thought about it, she wouldn't really pinpoint it as being agitated, more so irritated. It didn't help that she didn't know why she was irritated. Before Sora could get more irritated at why she found herself irritated, she had heard some footsteps outside of her cell.

The footsteps were clearly walking by and at first, she thought it was one of the guards on patrol, but it was definitely two sets of footsteps. It wasn't uncommon for guards to join each other on patrol, sometimes that was what happened, but it was the fact they stopped at the cell right next door.

" _...huh?_ "

Sora couldn't see nor hear, she heard no footsteps until they walked down some more before the footsteps had faded away. "I wonder what that was about?" It sounded to be a check up of sorts, at least as far as she knew.

She did remember Koneko saying that there was trouble caused by Chikuha and since she and Nozomi had rushed over to Demelza after the battle, the guards were probably checking up on them, just in case as a safety measure. Then there was also what Ashita told her about a new guard, and that made a lot of sense if he was tagging along with a more experienced guard in the female ward to know the layout of the place.

It was then, she found herself feeling tired and no longer irritated as she yawned while her eyes slowly closed for the night.

* * *

Li crossed his arms as he listened to the tale that Touya told him, however he felt that Touya had left out some important details. Then again, it was a rumour after all. "So, what your telling me is...breaking out is possible?"

"Yep, but it's just a tall tale created by others to give you newbies hope." Touya chuckled, over the story. "If you want to find out if it's true, then I suggest you search for yourself, but that would be a waste of time, the guards can be vicious. Just ask some of the prisoners _who tried_ , they all suffered the same fate. Broken."

" _Why did you tell me this? Are you messing with me?_ " Li had no idea if he should trust him, there was a lot that Touya was keeping from him, that had to be it. "Then why tell me something that can never be achieved?"

Touya simply smiled, not saying a word which did nothing to help the new inmate. " _So it was to get my hopes up..._ " how cruel.

"I want in." the voice from a third party interrupted their conversation.

The two immediately tensed, they had been spied on by this new arrival.

Out from behind a corner, Remko had showed himself. "Oh, another new face." Touya acknowledged the newcomer with a rather friendly smile. "And who are you?"

Remko stayed silent for a while, "Remko."

"Ah, I'm Touya and this guy is Li, nice to meet you eavesdropper."

The newest addition to the prison decided to skip any sort of filler or chit-chat, this could give way to a golden opportunity and he didn't want to mess out on that if that was the case.

"You guys are planning on escaping, right?" he asked and didn't even wait for a response. "If so, I want in."

Truth be told, Remko had stumbled across the scene completely on accident when he was scouting out the prison some more and came to the realisation that escape wasn't going to be easy and the reputation this prison had made it all the more harder to achieve.

Though when he overheard these two, even if it wasn't a real plan or just a retelling of a rumour, there was that glint of opportunity... yet at the same time, he didn't want to continue talking with these two, but this was worth a shot.

"You want in?" Li narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. "You just overheard us talking about a rumour and you want in? We never said about escaping either." he scoffed and to be honest, Li wasn't that sure himself. What he had just heard was a rumour too. A cruel one at that. " _Not to mention the fact it's told to newbies to either strengthen or break their spirit._ "

"Now, now, Kagayami," Touya smiled towards the neon yellow inmate. "Let's see what he has to say!"

"If you're worried about my skills, then don't bother. I have experience on my side."

The two shot him two different looks. Touya seemed interested while Li didn't care for it. "Experience?"

Remko actually shot a somewhat confident smirk. "This wouldn't be my first jailbreak."

"Oh! We got an experienced escapee in our prison," Touya grinned at the revelation, "but you should know, new guy, if you're not aware, the guards in Styx can and have the authority to get hands on."

"...what?" Remko was...taken back with that.

"Well, they can get hands on, but these guards can use their quirks, even the guards with quirks that are used to kill should the situation require it." the bright blonde haired inmate said with a smile, as if he was talking about something cheery. "Escape attempts will probably end up being punished in such a way."

The silver armed young man was stuck in thought. That was a problem, a big problem. Not only did Styx have high security, but the guards could take them out with their quirks? Sure, he had been apprehended by guards before in his previous prisons, but Styx proved to be a lot tougher than those by a long shot.

It also brought up another thought. "Are you even _considering_ escaping this prison?" It was a dumb question in most cases, a simple yes or no, but the way he talked about it...it might just cost him his life if he dared to try, so he wanted to know.

Li, who just decided to listen for a while, turned towards Touya, he too had that thought. "Are we?" While they never talked about escaping, the possibility and option was still there.

"Styx is a prison with top notch security, thinking about escaping will result in our defeat, would it not?" Touya walked around the two. "Besides, this was just a rumour after all, a rumour made by other convicts to ease our hearts, to give us hope at freedom. The real rumour here is that the rumour was created by the guards...if that's true, what a cruel rumour they made."

Remko couldn't help but feel that Touya had avoided the question completely, but it did answer his question, at least that's what he thought. Escape was too risky, it was not worth it at all. " _Damn it._ " The brief thoughts of it were piling up in his mind, but it was just a cruel rumour after all.

The rumour that the two were talking about was somewhat lost on Remko as he only appeared during the end of the talk, he was mostly clueless on it. When he asked Touya about it, the more experienced inmate simply smiled.

"It's curfew right now, we need to head back to our cells."

Otherwise, they might be punished by the guards if they were too late in returning.

Remko and Li were left alone with one thought on their mind, seeing as they were new prisoners of Styx. " _Did he make that rumour up?_ "

What a cruel rumour to tell to newbies.

* * *

In a dark cell, a figure that could be described as hulkish sat in the middle. If he was outside of this cell, out in the open, under the clear sky, a small bird might of landed on his head.

If it was foolish enough.

Not even mice or rats dared to come near his cell! If there were even mice or rats in this prison of course. Only the pale moonlight peered in through the cell's tiny window, placed up high in the thick walls casting him in the shadows of the old, dusty cell.

The silhouette opened their eyes after quite some time before they grinned, digging their hands slightly into their legs as he sat with his legs crossed. He couldn't help but grin.

Grin, grin, grin.

He was about to burst!

He just couldn't wait, he couldn't wait to burst!

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

 **Once again, as mentioned at the top of the chapter, your characters can and will lose some fights but are able to win others, so keep that in mind. Since we're at the end of the chapter, I'll say this about characters winning and losing fights: not every fight will be interfered with and leave fights as draws or ties as we go deeper into the story/the more the story progresses. So that's gonna be fun!**

 **Quick note about the first arc that we're slowly getting ourselves into: the first arc might be a slow starting one seeing as we're not that far into the story as of yet, but we be moving!**

 **Anyways, thanks for checking out the chapter, I'll see you next time :D**


	10. Slam Dunk

**Supreme Kai of Booty: Ah, that sucks, but at least the pizza was good, yeah?**

 **Oblivious IJ: Me too, ah man, maybe Tai can remember that next time.**

 **Gold crown dragon: I wouldn't really call them reference characters, more so unintentional references.**

 **Nemris: Yep, that's true. Just wanted to cover it just in case for some others might feel differently about it (you'll never know). Thank you! I really enjoyed that scene too :D**

* * *

The days were moving pretty quickly in the prison Styx, Jin thought they would be a lot longer, but he summed it up due to the first few days he had arrived at the prison.

Soon things would slow down and catch up to him, before the slow drag of his sentence over-weighed any spectacular happenings within the famed jail.

It will turn into a gruelling existence until his sentence came to an end.

He didn't look forward to that.

As he was walking through the male ward, another prisoner had brushed past him, immediately causing Jin to hold his arm from the sudden pain that came out of nowhere. It wasn't horrible pain, but it was enough to make him hold his arm from the sudden scratch.

When he turned to face that prisoner (who was mostly likely the cause of the pain), he saw that he was wearing the standard orange jumpsuit with no alterations asides from the pair of dark sunglasses that sat on top of his head which housed bright blonde hair that was more golden than anything, which parted a bit towards the right and since his glasses were currently on his head, it showed his eyes and their bright blue colour.

But that wasn't what stood out to Jin. It was his skin.

This man's skin...looked just like sandpaper! His skin was sandpaper!

He grinned at him for a bit. "The name's Arai Surikizu, nice to meet ya."

"Your skin is...sandpaper?" Jin rubbed his arm from the attack.

"That's right, bucko. My quirk is Sandpaper."

 _Sandpaper: It's just like it sounds, Arai's skin is sandpaper!_

It was too late when Jin registered that Arai had closed the distance between them, with a sudden block, he had managed to withstand the physical attack.

But that wasn't Arai's intention at all.

"Shit." Jin looked down to his arms as he winced a little. His attack still hurt, it was just a graze that still managed to hurt him. " _The force of his attacks coupled with that quirk is...a real pain._ "

Jin raised his hand as Arai seemed prepared to attack again or do one of those graze punches. He was going to use his quirk...until.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_ "

It was a brief recollection before he found himself down on the ground from the sudden punch from the prisoner who made sure his long sleeves were rolled up for the battle. With a quirk like his, Jin could tell that despite the quirk, he was skilled in using it effectively.

When he did finally look up at Arai, Arai looked a bit puzzled because of his odd actions. Not that Jin would really blame him for getting hit when he was about to fight back.

" _I can't…_ " he held his hand to the side as crystals started to appear and take shape into that of a stick, though he quickly brandished it as a sword. " _This is the best I can do._ "

He couldn't bring himself to use it on another person.

Arai whistled as he watched the formation of the crystals. "Looks a bit rough, but don't worry. I can smooth it out for ya."

Jin threw the stick, an easy dodge, allowing Arai to charge in, but what he didn't account for was what was behind him. He only got enough information due to the soft changes in Jin's face. Looking back, he saw the stick coming back. So this was his quirk...

 _Crystallisation_ _: Jin can convert all sorts of matter into crystals which he can use as (and turn into) a weapon! While he can use it on others and even manipulate pre-existing creations (within a radius), the more complex a creation or action, the more it exhausts him! Though, they are still crystals at the end of the day._

The sandpaper skinned man sent himself falling back into the oncoming crystal stick. Though, as he did this, he noticed that it's speed had lowered, allowing him to dodge under the attack. " _Heh. I see now._ "

Grabbing a hold of his weapon, he swung it down but to no avail. "Nice try, but hey, let me smooth it out for ya, buddy." Arai who had caught the crystal stick like a samurai catching a falling katana, he soon began to rub his hands together like he was trying to start a fire.

Jin pulled back his weapon, glancing down at the now smoothed out area that Arai had put there. Though taking his eyes off his opponent was a bad one as Arai's hand gripped around the fresh blood's neck. When he did let go, Jin jumped back, putting some distance between them.

Arai dusted his hands off as he looked pleased with himself. "That should do it for you."

Those words immediately caused Jin to get on the defensive, backing away as he kept his guard up. " _Was his quirk a ruse? Is there an additional effect?!_ " With these thoughts, it was confusing to the black haired crystalizer when Arai put his hands into his pockets and _began walking away!_

"I thought you were here to fight?" he called out, causing Arai to stop dead in his tracks and look back.

The sandpaper man chuckled as he fixed his sunglasses. "Fight? No, no. I was just here to rough you up a little, but I guess I ended up polishing ya, ain't that right, crystal."

Jin ignored the sudden nickname as his mind drifted to who sent him if he was ordered to rough him up. Arai dug his hand into his pocket, bringing out what Jin could only be contraband in Styx.

It looked to be a packet of smokes.

"For a packet of smokes? You're a smoker?"

Arai waved it off. "Nah, not really, but some other people in here are. This packet is enough to get something worthwhile in return."

" _Ah, I see now, currency...wait,_ " Jin watched as Arai pocketed the packet and immediately walked away again, seemingly pleased with his work and no intention of stopping again. "Who sent you?!"

Sadly, Jin's call didn't even get Arai to respond. It was as if he didn't want to hear him, was he really ignoring him now? Right now, the black haired prisoner just needed some time to himself, so he picked a random table to sit at.

Not long after sitting down however, a bald man had walked over and slammed his hand down on the table. That was the first thing Jin had noticed, the hand. It was relatively normal asides from the missing ring finger, which had some sort of...cover over it? It didn't look like it was bandaged properly, that was for sure and seemed to easily pop off.

Odd.

When Jin finally looked up at this bald man, he had noticed that there was some tattoos on the man, mostly over the right side of his face, around the eye that seemed to be tribal at the very least or in a similar style.

"So I heard you met with Fumma." Jin, looking over this man with a bit of hidden caution nodded. "And I also heard that you said you'll think over it?"

Once more, Jin nodded, wondering who this man was.

"How long has it been since then? At least over a day?"

"Yeah, and I'm still considering it."

The bald man growled before his other hand, formed into a tight fist, slammed down much harder. "You little piece of shit! You came to Fumma only to _consider_ joining?!"

"Yeah," was the casual reply.

If the table wasn't bolted down, the bald man would have flipped it, so he instead settled for another strike at the table, hoping it would at least dent from the impact, but it did no such thing.

He glanced to the sandpaper skinned man who walked away. "Useless piece of...no matter. If I want a job done right—"

For some reason, something had compelled Jin to respond immediately with, "but you ordered him for a light rough up."

Jin summed it up to being that he, Arai, was a better person than this ring fingerless man from their very short discussion.

"Shut up you!" the man suddenly exploded in anger. "You're wasting Fumma's time!"

Jin watched as the man pulled off that cover off that was on his left hand, where his ring finger was meant to be. What confused Jin was the fact that blood began to seep out of it. "Are you—" Jin found himself whipped when he showed a moment's concern for the bald prisoner.

As the blue eyed prisoner rubbed the side of his head from the sudden attack, he glanced up to see that very same tattooed prisoner grinning down at him, brandishing his own quirk.

When the blood poured out of the open wound, a long red tendril of blood came out and formed a rather sharp looking bladed tip to it as it seemed to be very flexible, and he had to wonder how long it could go.

Jin had no time to think as his new opponent came swinging, the long red tendril would have left a nasty gash on his torso if he didn't move in time. Holding out his hand, the same stick that he used in his short lived battle with Arai rushed over to his hand, just in time to block the next incoming strike. Creating it was easy, controlling it afterwards was not.

The stick proved useful as it blocked the more lethal looking attacks his opponent dished out as a thought went through his mind.

 _You can't win a fight by simply dodging._

So now, he went on the offensive from a safe distance, creating small crystals in his hand to fire off in his direction. It seemed to be effective, though...he was shocked to see that the bald man didn't even dodge or block the attacks, allowing himself to get cut. "Hehe, thanks for that." Jin watched as the cuts gave way to more tendrils.

" _No wonder he didn't dodge my attack!_ "

Now Jin was forced to block more blood blade attacks! Now backed into the wall, he needed time to create nearby crystals and due to the flailing whips of blood, a sneak attack might not be that effective The tattooed man was aware of the previous fight after all.

So he focused on blocking at the moment, coating his arms in similar crystals while he used the stick to block, however as he used the crystal stick to block the attacks, the tendril of blood (from the ring finger) came swinging down with all its might.

After all the attacks to the centre of his crystal weapon, he had managed to break it in two! Yet the swing still came down and Jin panicked...as the blade formed from blood froze as crystals formed.

"What?" the man missing a ring finger cut off his quirk, detaching it from the open wound as his improv weapon turned into a crystal which gave birth to an opening.

Jin used this opportunity, though surprised himself as it was far from his intentions to actually affect the blood blade, grabbed a hold of the new weapon and slashed. Thankfully for his opponent, it wasn't a serious blow, but it did send him falling backwards though.

As the bald man stumbled up, prepared to attack Jin once more, a hand planted itself firmly onto his shoulder. "What's the big idea, le—" anything he was going to say died there as he saw just who grabbed a hold of him. "F-Fumma!"

After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, he spoke. "What are you doing?"

The man was frozen to his core.

"What. Happened. Here?" Fumma's grip was firmer than before, no, it was beginning to tighten around the bald man's shoulder.

"T-This guy...was wasting your time!"

Fumma raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. "I'm sorry Jin, a few of my devoted followers are a bit...too loyal."

" _Ah, a loyalist..._ " The crystallisation user now had a better understanding as he let the crystals on his arms fall off and making sure they (and the other crystals) broke or rather turned pretty much into dust, so the other inmates wouldn't get their hands on it.

"Now, for you." Fumma's piercing vision at the bald, tattooed man struck through to his very soul. "I shall deal with you later, be sure to appear before me later."

The bald man gave Jin a harsh look before he ran off, causing the Fumma to run a hand through his hair. "Once again, I apologise for this. Take as long as you require—"

"Actually, I've been thinking about it, but it's a bit too vague with everything, but...I am thinking about taking you up on that offer."

Honestly, Jin was still unsure and more importantly, still very wary of the group, but if a fight broke out, the 'boss' would come join the underlings, right? Protect the herd, or at least, the more valuable members of said herd.

The group leader scratched his chin. "Are you now...hmm, perhaps I should play my part and make things clearer for you."

" _That would be good._ "

Fumma walked past the young prisoner, looking at the rest of prison. "I'm not looking for any sort of power group."

Jin would have called bullshit if it wasn't for the man's expression. You could hide a lot of things, but the eyes were a give away in most cases, and those eyes didn't seek power.

"I suppose you can say, this group reminds me of the outside, perhaps this group that people have flocked to is just me wanting to experience my old outside life? Either way, there's no real greater purpose for it."

" _...it does have a reason...right?_ " Jin didn't believe that, there had to be something.

But if there truly wasn't…

"You know, people say seeing is believing." Fumma had a rather...curious look in his eye as Jin continued, "words can be made up, but actions can't, so how about showing me firsthand?"

Fumma began shaking, causing Jin to prepare himself, this would be three for three if he attacked, but his worries were for naught as a chuckle escaped the boss' lips. "Now that's a first."

Eh?

"Eh?"

Fumma, now with a much brighter look on his face, ceased his chuckle. "I have to admit, no one has ever proposed that sort of idea. Very well, for such an amusing answer, let's give you a week trial. I doubt you'd be disappointed."

Jin didn't really expect that to work, but he'd take what he was given. He didn't want to look this gift horse in the mouth either as a slight sigh of relief escaped his own lips.

Seems like things had worked out.

* * *

One of Akita's followers, the one with the ability to broadcast, was well on her way to Akita's cell. Though she stopped a far distance, watching a guard walk out of the cell she was going to as he fixed up his hat with a sigh before he went to continue his patrol.

The inmate stopped in her tracks. " _Should I go see her?_ " she wondered. It seemed like she was busy, perhaps needing some rest. " _...I should still go see her._ "

Withholding any type of thought, she quickened her pace and entered the cell, revealing Akita on her own bed with her own grey bed sheet draped over her body.

"Oh," she noticed the new arrival to her cell, "make yourself comfortable, I know I am."

The woman hesitated for a second, ignoring Akita's wink as she spied the prison garbs in the corner of the cell in a messy pile. "How are you feeling today?" she asked the dark haired woman.

"Could be better," she purred, locking eyes with one of her girls. "In fact, it's a good thing you came here~"

"It is?"

"Mhm," she beckoned the woman over. "I'm a bit bored right now."

Once the woman arrived, Akita leaned forward a bit, holding the sheet close. "I want you to use that quirk of yours to show me a wonderful time."

Without questioning her orders, the woman quickly started to prepare for her quirk's usage. Her quirk was quite useful yet pretty basic, which lined up with how she got thrown in jail in the first place.

It allowed her to broadcast a few different places in her vicinity, very useful. Though it had limitations, such as only being able to swap between a few 'channels' as she called them and the requirements that were needed to be able to broadcast them in the first place.

You could quickly piece together the reasoning behind her being put behind bars. Akita paid it no mind though as she now stared at the screen.

So she decided to just surf the very limited options.

"Next channel."

* * *

Outside, in the female ward, Sora still felt irritated. Last night she eventually found herself feeling like herself, but now, once again, she felt highly irritated.

Though, it wasn't just her this time. A few of the others felt a little bit irritated too, but nothing on the current level of irritated that Sora was feeling. The group of four that consisted of Sora, Koneko, Demelza and Nozomi had decided to spend the day outdoors, but that's when it started.

They had also spotted Yua, Fushiko, Chikuha and Ashita too. Yua and Ashita however were more distance and away from them but Fushiko was more than glad to wave them over once she had noticed them.

"Oh hey!" Fushiko waved, as she then looked over to Demelza. "Hey, this is that new girl I heard about, yeah? We get to finally meet! Nice to meet ya, I'm Fushiko, and I'm pretty sure you know Chikuha, but the other two are Yua and Ashita."

To Demelza, despite the earlier mishap with Chikuha, she could tell that these two were very joyful compared to Yua and Ashita in the back, which didn't seem like joyful company as much, more so Yua than Ashita.

"Nice to meet you!" she greeted the other two, in which Ashita was the one to approach first. "I'm—"

"Demelza Brathwaite, I know." the playful tone of Ashita's voice danced in the goth-like prisoners' ears.

"You do?"

"Yep, and I know a _lot_." the tone was a bit too playful. "I know everything including your criminal record, so don't be a Killjoy, alright?"

It was as if a wave of fear overcame the usually upbeat girl.

Yua on the other hand, wasn't as vocal. Her expression was stoic in a sophisticated way and the one thing Demelza would take away from this was: calm. Very calm.

She gave her a nod before Chikuha barged in, coming right up to the masked girl.

"We meet again, eh?" Chikuha grinned, causing a frown to appear on Nozomi for a second.

"Just don't go starting fights again..." the classy Nozomi sighed, which Chikuha respond smoothly.

"I already had my fun, chill out." the bomber then perked an eyebrow as she noticed Sora. "What's wrong with her?"

"S-She's been a bit irritated since we've came out here," the hood wearing Koneko softly mumbled.

Nozomi paused for thought, she did feel a little agitated too.

While that was happening, Demelza watched like some third wheel as she noticed someone next to her that wasn't there before.

It was a woman with a mantle of black feathers that held a basketball. "Your friend seems pretty irritated, why not get that frustration out by playing some basketball?"

Demelza looked down at the woman's hands, to see said basketball. "Um...thanks?"

"Oh, how rude of me. Chie Shigeki." the introduction was briefly, incredibly so.

Before Demelza could even say a word, the feather mantle woman left, leaving the new masked prisoner with the basketball.

"Uh...any of you guys want to play basketball?" the newest inmate of the group offered, holding the basketball up.

"That sounds fun! Let's do it!" Fushiko quickly agreed to such a game and Chikuha was quick to follow.

"Sounds fun, why the fuck not."

When Fushiko turned to Yua and Ashita, they had already responded with sitting on a bench facing the basketball court with both of them on opposite ends of the bench. "Ah, seems Yua and Ashita are just gonna watch."

Demelza looked down at the ball in her hands. Since she was the one who brought it up, she thought that she'd might as well join in, plus it seemed to be a very joyful sport.

The agitated Sora had already walked onto the basketball court. "Sure, let's do it...might help." she muttered the last part under her breath, this should get her to relax a bit.

"Hey, you two should join us." Chikuha grinned, pointing at both Nozomi and Koneko. "A two-on-two isn't as fun as a three-on-three."

" _I do feel a little agitated..._ " Nozomi then walked onto the court next after weighing her options and deciding that the game could help release this sudden build up of agitation. "Very well, I shall join in too."

"Sweet, now hurry the fuck up kitten."

Said kitten just pulled her hoodie down. "I...I'm not sure you'd want me on a team..."

The woman with constellation tattoos shook her head. "That's not gonna cut it, now get onto the field and even the playing field."

Meekly, the cat quirked girl joined the game. Next came about the teams for this quick basketball match, they settled on Sora, Nozomi and Demelza being on one team with Koneko joining Chikuha and Fushiko.

Now on the court, a three-on-three, the game was about to begin. They asked if one of the watchers would throw the ball in at the start of the match, which Ashita did, tossing the ball into the court.

Now the game was truly on.

As the basketball hit the court, both Sora and Chikuha went straight in with Sora grabbing the ball first before quickly passing it off to Nozomi.

The eldest inmate on the court caught the ball, but when Fushiko was the one to come at her, the eye-patch wearing inmate sent the ball to Demelza. Dribbling the ball for a second, she was more worried about Chikuha that grinned at her.

"Demelza now!" she heard Sora call out, and she took her chance, passing the ball to Sora who immediately threw the ball at the opposing side's hoop.

Though it didn't go through as it was caught with ease.

The one to stop the shot was none other than Koneko! She caught the ball with grace and landed gently on the ground. Demelza went to steal the ball but was taken aback by the sudden appearance of claws!

 _Cat: This quirk grants Koneko cat-like features such as her ears, eyes and a tail as well as some cat-like abilities, heightening both her hearing and sense of smell and the ability to use retractable claws for example!_

" _Right, quirks are allowed in these 'prison rules',_ " the goth looking prisoner thought before Koneko had managed to slip right on past her.

With the introduction of quirks in today's world and with how many generations they've been around for, sports was one of the few things to both change and yet remain the same. Much like the laws that existed to prevent people from using their quirks out in public (unless they were a hero), that also extended to sports.

The first notable sports-based international event that came to mind was the Olympics. They were suspected to the same anti-quirk usage.

Much like taking drugs to up your performance, quirks were banned from use. Even in other sports like rugby, hockey, baseball and even something like table tennis, a lot of sports encouraged the non-use of quirks. It gave some people the upper hand in that regard. Possessing a wind-based quirk in baseball? Easy home-runs.

Though when it came to mutant quirks, there was always that uncertainty and almost hard to pin rules. As long as it didn't dominate the sport or were used like a pair of wings, but people nowadays were more interested in heroes than anything else, so sports, were kind of an afterthought or a hobby.

It was a hero focused world after all. Was it due to the quirk usage? Maybe. The fame? Most likely, but villains had that too. That was a discussion for another day.

"S-Sorry," came the meek tone of the cat who passed on by with the ball.

As Koneko darted past the mask wearing prisoner, she came face to face with Sora who said with the sweetest tone, "can you give me that ball?"

What did Koneko do? Well, she handed her the ball as if in a trance as Sora dribbled past, having to focus with Fushiko and Chikuha who were busy with Demelza and Nozomi interfering with them.

"KONEKO! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Chikuha's scream got Koneko to jolt. "God damn it..."

 _Charmer's Voice: When in use, it allows Sora to more easily sweet talk (convince) someone to command them temporarily for short amounts of time. Though, it doesn't always work and the shorts times are varied with a max of using it on two people at a time._

Sora grinned only to have the ball immediately stolen by Fushiko. " _I dropped my guard!_ " Sora tried to steal the ball back, but that was in vain.

Why was it in vain? Well, a team finally scored a point as Fushiko slam dunked the basketball into the hoop. "Haha! Woo!" she cheered, throwing the ball to her opponents. "First point goes to us!"

"Damn it..." Sora mumbled as she bounced the ball.

"Come on, you won't score another damn point." Chikuha was way too into it, shuffling some small rocks and pebbles in her hands before the two teams went at it again.

The team consisting of Sora, Demelza and Nozomi went on the offensive, their sole goal was to score a point. The two teams were locked in a struggle once more as the ball kept going back and forth between them. It didn't take long for someone to get a clean shot as the oldest inmate in the group threw the ball.

Nozomi was about to score and gain a point for her team, yet once again they were denied as a small explosion sent it off course. It was quite sour for the eye-patch wearing inmate.

" _This...is going to go on for a while, isn't it?_ " wondered Nozomi, as she felt a bit annoyed.

Things seemed to be in a loop, shots didn't connect most of the time and when someone did score, it didn't do much to alleviate the frustration both sides were going through, such as now. Chikuha scowled at Sora, who shared her expression after yet another back and forth and they weren't the only ones, though, some were more irritated, agitated and frustrated than others.

It seemed as if the whole court was slowly growing frustrated...

As Yua and Ashita watched the slowly devolving game, the young woman with oleander flowers scattered throughout her light green hair spied over to the opposite end of the basketball court, at the benches at the complete over side.

"...Ashita."

"Hm?" the older woman of the two glanced over to Yua who sat at the opposite end of the bench.

"Do you see that person over there?"

The information broker followed her gaze to see the woman with the black mantle made of feathers. "Chie Shigeki." As she watched that specific woman, she sighed. "...I see now. With her here, then the whole devolving game of basketball makes more sense now."

Yua's expression never changed but she did get off the bench. "You're going over to her?" asked the info broker, in which the woman with oleander petal eyelashes began to head over.

"Come on."

Ashita's eyes darted from Yua to Chie and back again. "Wouldn't it just be better to inform the others of this instead?"

"...You and I both know that involving them at this point isn't a good idea, especially with someone like Chikuha."

With a sigh, the dyed haired woman stood. "Then I hope you have a plan if things go violent."

Yua said nothing as the pair began making their way towards Chie.

* * *

Standing on top of a basketball hoop, was a bare-chested man wearing a wide-brimmed hat as his scarf flowed in the breeze.

"Oi! Get down, we're trying to have a match here." a rather rude voice called out. There were two convicts here with one holding a ball.

Holding his right hand as if he was about to flip a coin, he gazed down onto the one holding a basketball. He performed the flipping action, though the action was incredibly fast! The inmate holding onto the basketball suddenly found themselves hurling towards the ground from a sudden hit to their head.

As the second inmate's buddy fell to the ground, the cowboy took this opportunity to jump back down. Once he landed, the second inmate was ready to throw hands, which the cowboy responding to this by holding both of his hands next to hips, like he was in western showdown, though both hands were in the same position, ready to flip coins that weren't there.

"Draw!" with the sudden shout, the cowboy flicked both his thumbs with incredible speed, in which the opposing inmate blocked with his arms. The arms of the inmate had coated themselves in a substance that was most likely metal, acting as a pair of gauntlets.

The brimmed hat man whistled. "Nice reaction, but can you handle this?"

If the single action of flicking his thumbs was fast, then he had already surpassed that speed with what came next. He began flicking both of his thumbs, as if flipping hundreds of coins. All of which attacked the guarding inmate as they had no real idea what was hitting them but they were already being pushed back from the barrage.

"You know, you shouldn't leave yourself open, pardner."

The arm coated inmate got hit in the leg and immediately lost his balance...and the second leg was next to be hit, causing the man to fall. The only reason he wasn't kissing the dirt was because of his arms.

It now looked like he was surrendering or bowing to the cowboy.

"You got a decent quirk, nothing spectacular, but I guess you did fine." the cowboy grinned, throwing an arm around his neck. "And that's what I like to see. Hey, you busy later?"

"...what?"

"Are you free later? I think we can put that unpolished talent to good use." the cowboy just patted his back and whispered into his ear. "Meet me there later if you're interested."

He had left the inmate almost immediately after that, planning on ignoring any questions they might have for him, but he quickly spied some more interesting inmates. "Well, well. Let's go say hi." and with that, he had found a new target.

It was just another day for 'Quickdraw' Mulhall.

* * *

Dahlia had spent that time for nothing as when she finally arrived to that scene yesterday, it was already dealt with. As she continued her daily patrol, she decided to head over to the break room, seeing as it was almost time for her break.

When she finally got off her patrol and into the break room, she quickly sat down on one of the luxurious black couches in the room, though she wasn't alone in the break one.

Sitting at a table, stirring a teaspoon in a cup of tea was one of her coworkers, Yukiko.

"Did you have a nice patrol?" the guard clad in white asked. "I would make you a cup of tea, but da-hong pao tea is quite expensive and I only have a small amount to work with, though, I could brew some lapsang souchong tea, I have enough quantity of that to share."

She then took a sip of her tea, which Dahlia shifted her position, now laying down on the couch. "Now I can see why this old da-hong pao tea is so expensive." the tea drinker continued in a way that was mainly to herself but informing Dahlia about it.

As she talked, Dahlia only had one thought: " _Just drink your tea and give me some peace and quiet already._ "

Despite all the tea talk, Dahlia had decided what she was going to have for lunch today.

* * *

Fuck.

He was locked up in his cell again.

To make things worse, he was fed that nutraloaf stuff. "Tch." Nothing he could really do from his cell, so he just choose to tough it out and just pick off parts of this 'loaf' shit that was dumped onto him.

While it was bland as hell, he did recognise it as being better than just starving in his cell for god knows how long. There was one good thing that he was locked up in here though, something he had overheard some whispering (and whimpering) inmates that he was about to smash into dust...or just give a punch to the face, either one.

Someone was going around doing the exact same thing, well, their reasoning had to be different, but the end result was the same: the 'victims' (if you could call them that) all ended up beaten and broken, much like how he hunted down his fellow inmates.

The only thing Gousen could do was scoff at the thought. "Fucking parasites." and went straight back to eating the cardboard-like loaf. It was the only thing he was given since he had been locked back up in his cell.

At least it was better than starving.

* * *

Akita whistled and smirked as she watched the girls played a game of basketball. It was a great coincidence that she had stumbled across such an event thanks to the broadcast and it was a really entertaining game they were playing, but soon that smirk of hers soon dropped as the game continued.

As she watched her girls get violent with each other during said game.

As they soon began to fight each other, though still to the rules of basketball.

The woman quickly took in the scene, her eyes settled on two on the bench watching, Yua and Ashita...though, it seems they had figured it out before her as she followed their gazes to a woman.

"That bitch."

* * *

 **Another chapter down, thanks for tuning in! :D**

 **Despite this arc being sort of slow compared to the other future arcs I have planned (sort of), in terms of how many chapters left for the first arc, well, you'll see.** **I also have some ideas with a lot of your characters haha. A lot of things can potentially happen to your character and their roles in the plot, so keep that in mind. You did send them to a syoc after all and the surprise is what happens to em~! ;) Oh, what could happen.**

 **Speaking about characters, get prepared to see Tai and Arai throughout the story as they're going to be my main two OCs in the story. Got some fun facts too, which I'll hold onto later.**


	11. Random Acts of Violence

**Sorry that this took a while, but we back! Onwards!**

 **FinnyFalolou: Why thank you! :D means a lot**

 **Supreme Kai of Booty: Plot twist, we're all in league with one another or are all the same person. Jokes aside, damn, yeah, thankfully they're all good eh.**

* * *

A tail wagged a bit as a small fox stared up at the jackal headed woman. If Hokori was honest, he had to say he felt a bit intimidated when he stared upwards at this jackal woman, body honed with years of training and experience, a facial expression that grew accustomed to battle.

She screamed no nonsense and her silence amplified that when he had just previously took her appearance in.

It didn't really help his nerves. He was still excited to meet her (hence his tail wagging) but the initial intimidation of her stoicness had managed to raise his nerves more than excitement. Hokori had just heard the story that happened recently with the guard dog.

When she arrived back from her vacation, she only took a few steps before rushing off to apprehend rowdy criminals that overstepped their lines. She took her work seriously and because of that it screamed workaholic to the fennec fox, but he also summed it up to being the loyal guard dog that she prided herself to be.

But that meant one thing from the vacation. She did not seem like the type of person to take a vacation willingly, so he theorised that it was some sort of forced vacation. Perhaps too many saved up vacation days, or hell, even sick days.

The large fox ears drooped down a bit as he sent a glance or two towards the much taller guard. There was one thing he had learnt in her presence.

She wasn't one for conversation.

Hokori was in quite a pickle! What should he say? Should he say anything? The silence while peaceful was also kind of awkward...well, at least for him that is. Shi was perfectly fine with staying silent and she seemed like she was on guard, ready at a moment's notice. " _Come on Hokori! You gotta make conversation! Somehow...what can I even bring up? She's always so prepared and—_ " Hokori blinked, that was it!

"Hey, uh, Shi?" he waited a second, no real verbal response, just her eyes gliding over to him as he felt his hair spike up a bit.

He was successfully intimidated.

" _No! Don't freeze up now!_ " With enough mental urging from himself, he managed to squeak out his question. "You always seem so, what's the word, ah can't think of it, but I think prepared also fits it. So why are you always so prepared? Ready for anything, so tense and guarded."

It felt like an eternity as Shi remained silent, thankfully she did end up responding. "You never know when a prisoner over steps their place."

" _Yep...she really does take it super seriously._ " he thought, watching the jackal turn her attention back. Hokori didn't really feel that intimidated anymore (at this moment), but rather, he respected such a dedicated guard, a real role model in terms of dedication.

"Welcome to the Styx."

Hokori was caught off guard by that, Shi was looking back at him once more, though she actually turned her head this time as she had just welcomed him into the ranks of the guards of Styx.

* * *

Li just wanted to go about his day, but of course, there was always something that wanted to get in the way. Such as now, when a topless cowboy wannabe wearing a wide-brimmed hat and long flowing scarf stood in his way.

"Let's see if you're up for a challenge," was all that his opponent said before the whole scene turned into a western and Li felt himself hit by an invisible force.

The first shot took him by surprise and while he did expect the other attacks afterwards, there was nothing he could do about it, and he hated it. The cowboy's flicks hitting him with nothing but air.

 _Finger Flex: Also called Coin Toss by its user, the user has incredibly fast and strong thumbs (and fingers, though the thumbs are considered stronger) that allow them to be flexed quickly within microseconds! Using Coin Toss, Mulhall is able to fire off bursts of air to hit his opponent rapidly. It gets deadly once he has something to use as ammo!_

"Come on now, don't hold back," the cowboy taunted. "Use your quirk."

Li's frown turned into a glare as he was helpless against the barrage of air blasts.

"Hmm, perhaps you're a mutant?" the cowboy wondered, not letting his barrage end for a second. Li gritted his teeth together, something that Mulhall had noticed. "Seems I hit a nerve."

"Shut up!" Li was still under the intense barrage of air blasts, he just couldn't do anything against it. He hated it, he hated it, he hated it! It was then that the barrage stopped.

"Wait," Mulhall blinked. "Could it be..."

Li tried to glare, but that didn't faze the shirtless man at all, in fact, the shirtless man just found it amusing.

Mulhall laughed, "oh this is some interesting news. I wouldn't normally do this, but, with your situation, it will make for something very interesting. Now there pardner, what's your name?"

The newer prisoner turned away, "Li."

"Well then Li, make sure to keep your schedules free. It'll ruin the surprise." Before Li could even ask what he meant, the cowboy just simply tipped his hat and vanished from his sight.

"Surprise?"

The cowboy however, didn't go far, just around the corner, speeding along to his next test. A proper one this time. He didn't get far though as Mulhall froze in place, not because of fear, but rather because he felt like he was being stalked. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed that not to far behind, was Inyoku. Watching… and waiting. " _How long has he been there staring?_ "

Inyoku's stare was enough to send a single message. " _This isn't exciting._ "

The shirtless cowboy didn't take any action, if the rattlesnake was going to attack, then he'll fight back. The rattlesnake however, kept his distance and just watched the cowboy's movements. " _A shame I can't test you, rattlesnake. You seem to be itching for it._ "

Mulhall continued walking, feeling the snake's eyes on his back and he could have sworn that he heard something rattle.

* * *

Alexios walked through the male ward, keeping an eye on the prisoners throughout. His slightly wavy beige hair blowing in the breeze thanks to an open window.

It was then that his electric blue eyes spied a familiar face, a rather small fellow. He was just a prisoner, like the others, but he wanted to change himself. Alexios saw those eyes, he knew those types well.

"How are you doing today?"

The prisoner sighed a bit. "Fine, just want to go back home, really. It's a bit hard, the whole changing yourself thing that is." he waved his own hands as they ignited with flames for a few seconds. "Everyone here, whenever they get bored they start fights..."

Alexios turned, looking at all the other prisoners as his on the shoulders military coat stood strong behind him. He saw some inmates just quietly going about their day, hoping their sentence was over with one day, some arguing and some keeping their distance from one another. "Perhaps we need to add more recreational facilities."

…

Silence.

"Do," the prisoner began. "Do you think we can reform properly?"

"Of course! Everyone here has an equal chance of becoming a better person, learning from their mistakes!" the tall and muscular guard grinned. "You can still become a good person, you've already started to make steps to better yourself and sometimes, you need some help in order to better yourself."

The prisoner that could ignite their hands looked away. "...thanks, I guess." he mumbled, which Alexios heard pretty well, it wasn't like the prisoner was trying to hide it. "Support...huh, been a while since I had something like that..."

"That's why I'm here! To help you inmates become better people...and to let those who suffered wrongdoings as well." Alexios gave the prisoner no time to respond as he tossed something he dug from his pocket.

Ember hands looked down at what was tossed at him, a half-eaten candy bar, well, it was one of those snap-off ones. Something that prisoners couldn't really get their hands on.

"Thanks!" he stuttered at first as he scrambled to hide the candy bar away.

Alexios smiled as he walked away. It was quite a large smile.

* * *

"How are you doing today, Sae?" the prison's counsellor asked as the prisoner wasn't frowning like she usually was.

"I'm fine." her patient's feral tone was absent, but it just sounded empty.

Muika paused for a moment, "you...you can tell me whatever's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me right now."

Muika was fairly happy with her current patient. Sae gave no trouble and worked well with the guards, hence why she had access to the co-ed ward, and sometimes only stayed in there, for obvious reasons.

What the counsellor wasn't happy with was Sae's denial and refusal. She wanted to help her, she had heard stories of Sae and thanks to working in Styx, she had her profile on hand. It allowed her to learn just who sat in the leather lounge chair.

"I mean, isn't there something you want to do when your sentence is over?" she asked the long, black haired prisoner.

Said prisoner however just looked up, originally looking down at herself, she now gazed towards the wall, the same empty look in her eyes.

"I got nothing to do if I do get out of here."

The words lumped together in Muika's throat, she wanted to say something, but she didn't want to sound pushy.

Seconds had passed as her current client spoke up. "Are we done here?"

"...Yes," the ultraviolet haired counsellor nodded. " _Great job Muika, you really helped today._ " she scolded herself as she watched Sae stand before being escorted back to her cell by a guard.

Her droopy red eyes just stared down at the ground, her hands gripping the sides of her skirt. " _I really want to help you Sae, but—_ " she shook her head, she had heard from another guard that if you had the ability to help someone, you should use it to your best ability. " _I'll do better next time!_ "

After she gave herself a pep talk, she took a quick glance to her schedule before grabbing the mug of hot cocoa that her brother had just dropped off prior to her meeting with Sae. She savoured the taste as she placed it back down.

" _What if...I can't help her?_ " the sudden thought interrupted. Swallowing the sip of hot cocoa down, she went and shuffled the scattered pages on her desk together.

If Osamu was here, he would probably wrap her up in a hug and tell her to ignore those thoughts and to look on the bright side.

Maybe, just maybe, she should try and take a page out of his book.

So the counsellor of Styx put the best smile on her face that she could muster. _"Next time, I'll help you, Sae! All of you!"_

* * *

Chie was sitting quite comfortably as she watched the basketball game unfold. It looked like it was getting pretty violent.

 _"Perfect."_

It wasn't long until two shadows began to cast over her. Glancing over from Sora kicking Chikuha across the basketball court, she saw the oleander girl and the information broker.

"You're the one causing the fight." Yua, with no change in her expression stated as she stared down at the source. "Stop it."

The feather mantled woman smirked. "Irritated?"

Yua's stoic expression persisted and it only ended up irritating her instead! That was when the bubbly sounding Ashita took over.

"Chie Shigeki, known by the assigned villain name of Instigator with the quirk of Irritation." Ashita began with a rather upbeat tone to her voice as she dished the intel out. "Arrested for the illegal use of your quirk and pleaded guilty in court for using it, sentence for ten years. Quirk is activation based."

 _Irritation: A quirk that causes people to become irritated and that's just the start. The affected start off irritated but find themselves growing more irritated to the point of frustration, to cut a long story short, the longer this quirk is in effect, the more aggressive the people in the radius of the user become!_

"My, my, seems I'm famous."

Ashita kept up the smile. Chie was a rather interesting case from what she had found out through her info. Her quirk was as it sounded. Irritation. It caused many people to grow irritated, agitated for whatever reason before it got to the boiling point.

It caused plenty of fights where she just watched on, like an empress enjoying the spectacle of a bloody gladiator arena. You would think it would be easy to arrest and sentence such a cruel person, right?

WRONG!

Her arrest and sentence was anything but easy! It was clear as night and day for her actual arrest by the authorities, they got frustrated too, but it could be handled. The hardest part was her trial and that was solely because of her strength, her quirk.

Do you think that it would be easy to say she used her quirk to cause fights and then send her off to jail? If you said yes, then you're absolutely wrong! There are many types of quirks in this world, fitted into three major categories.

Emitter, Transformation and Mutant.

Chie's quirk might fall under emitter, but that doesn't mean anything in court, especially in regards to Chie's type of quirk.

Honestly, how can you jail someone with a quirk that can't be controlled?

Simple, you can't. At least with no standard evidence. That's why Chie was so hard to be put in prison where she lived, just because her quirk can cause irritation, doesn't mean it _counted_ as intentional. Even if it was.

However, this could easily be blamed because of where Chie lived. Chie had lived the majority of her life within the Ryukyu Islands, specifically Okinawa. The laws of quirks were different per country, per state and this included Okinawa. Okinawa was a bit slow when it came to quirk laws, a history lesson that needed to be done another time, but due to this, the island of Okinawa was one of the few places that had laws that allowed loopholes for certain quirks. Though, that was a story for a later time.

Evidence for quirks like that on Okinawa was incredibly hard to obtain. Uncontrollable quirks were placed in the same category as these harder to pin quirks used in ill intent. Say for example: a quirk that allows you to brainwash people who respond to you, the use of that type of quirk can be easily written off as accidental. Chie's quirk was the same...or so she claims. If someone got into a fist fight by the effects of her quirk, that could be written off as accidental, even if she did it with the sole intention of enjoying a spectacle or just to cause chaos within the streets.

Normal evidence did nothing. There was no proper evidence, you couldn't just blindly label a quirk like that as a fully intention attack, overall, it was easy to get away with crimes with those types of quirks. There were a few transformation and mutant quirks that also fell into the same category.

There was no way to get a guilty verdict or even know if was intentional or not.

When innocent people got involved into the mix, it only reinforced the previously mentioned problem of making it harder to pin those quirks down as intentional use, accidental use or considered an uncontrollable or unstable quirk.

It was almost hopeless. Almost.

There were actually two ways to get a person with a quirk like Chie's to plead guilty, as even normal evidence like witnesses, victims and even recordings proved useless. Though one was more successful than the other.

The first was by lie detector quirks. This actually worked pretty well when first established in her homeland, however it had flaws. Remember how innocents were said to be involved in the mix? Well, that same thing happened. Despite refusing that they used their quirks, even if they had no control over it and were caught lying, that did nothing for their actual intention of using said quirk.

Lying didn't matter to whether the quirk was used or not. It just happened. If someone was caught lying or telling the truth, they still couldn't pin it on them as the quirks were harder to control than the norm.

It ended up being scrapped and deemed as pointless once too many flaws started to poke their heads through, so they opted to try something else. Memory Searching. It didn't last too long either, memory searching and mind reading, it was actually like lie detecting, reading their minds didn't dictate their actions. A lot of people wanted to kill someone that hated, but never act on it, memory and thought searching was the same, but most quirks of that type, didn't involve their thoughts at the time of the memory.

So they put their trust in their final option, the second and more successful way compared to the now short lived and currently defunct lie detecting quirks. When dealing with quirks like Chie's irritation quirk that didn't involve contact and can easily be put under uncontrollable or accidental, with everything that had been mentioned previously, these invincible quirks within places like Okinawa were hard to touch even by the law themselves, there was one way though.

Have them plead guilty by their own volition.

Even then it wasn't perfect, they could still plead innocent. It was shitty but if you were lucky enough to be born with a quirk like Chie's Irritation or some other fitting 'uncontrollable' quirk, then you'd be untouched by the law itself as long as you only commit those crimes with that type of quirk and never relent into confessing and owing up to your crimes you committed.

As long as you only used your quirk. As long as you never give up and reveal the truth behind your actions, your crimes. As long you persisted to your own brand of 'innocence' despite your guilt.

You will walk freely, like a modern day Jack the Ripper.

Of course, that didn't mean shit if you lived in an area that had laws with those quirks in mind. Okinawa was one such place where the laws on 'uncontrollable' quirk usage intentions were wavy. You'd still walk like the notorious ripper, but only within the place where the laws were flexible and wavy where you could get away with it. Do it somewhere else, and you were fucked.

If you pulled this same stunt in Tokyo, let's say, Hosu City as your hunting grounds for example. If you pulled this stunt, claiming to have a uncontrollable quirk, you wouldn't get away with it. Those with lie-detection quirks would easily slammed you behind the bars of a nice little cell with your name on it. You couldn't play with the loopholes as easily, they had those quirks in mind, they had laws for those very situations in mind, they knew what they were doing. They continued to update their quirk laws.

It wasn't somewhere like Okinawa, that was for sure.

In one of those places like the previously mentioned island, there was no evidence solid enough to prove a thing otherwise within those areas where you could easily get away. Unless they had committed another crime that didn't involve quirk use or were apart of something bigger and sinister. There were other ways, but if they just used their quirks… then it was pretty much pointless... evidence was fleeting and if it was there, there was a high percentage that it would be useless to charge them on the illegal use of quirk.

With everything said previously, those quirks were incredibly hard to charge with illegal use in today's certain societies and only change with time could fix it in those areas that desperately needed it when these types of quirks popped up. Until then, it rested on fate.

It was an incredibly risky process, leaving it up to fate itself. Some scare tactics could be implemented into getting them to confess or even tampering with the accused themselves if they had no choice (and could get away with it), but still, they were largely untouched, only caving into their own guilt.

However, fate was a miraculous thing sometimes.

Some people never caved in however, some remained 'innocent' while some just agreed to the guilt for whatever reason. Chie was one such person who pleaded guilty by her own volition.

 _It was another court case for a string of fights ranging from simple bar fights to massive street fights, even a concert in front of a crowd of ten thousand ended up in a bloody fight, starting with hecklers taunting the band with the band taunting them back until it just exploded. Erupted into a large fight where officers dispatched had to deal with the raging crowd._

 _In the centre of these fights, was a single woman who held onto her sanity._

 _Chie Shigeki._

 _Among a sea of insanity, she remained untouched. It was as if the whole situation screamed that she was guilty._

 _Though this wasn't her first meeting with the officers and they knew it wouldn't be the last. They knew her quirk, uncontrollable she pleads, life threatening if the frustration built up in others reached the point of causing others to go berserk. Yet, she was also innocent thanks to their islands outdated laws, even if her lips twitched up into a cruel smirk that taunted them._

 _The riot officer who was deployed detained her first, with the source gone, it would make the clean up of those involved come to their senses sooner. That day forward, that concert was known as the Big Bash. Tales of the violent fights spread and short video clips had managed to garner slight attention on the web, until the next big, worse event engulfed their interests and free time._

 _It was just a fleeting moment._

 _The trial was short, as where all others she had been involved in. The judge not looking very happy at attending this trial again, all the evidence provided in the previous cases, in fact, she had never set foot in a court for her crimes in months. She was only here, because she requested it._

" _I'm not guilty," the words escaped her lips, almost ending the trial she requested if it wasn't for her continuation. "But, if it puts you at ease, I'll happily spend time in prison."_

" _W-What?" to say that everyone was shocked was an understatement. It raised suspicion._

" _I mean, if I keep getting accused of using my quirk with ill intentions when I'm not, I don't think I can ever get some piece of mind. So it's better for me to spend some time in prison, yeah?"_

 _The judge cleared his throat. "And what's the catch?"_

 _There had to be a catch to this, no sane person would want to go to prison willingly if they were innocent, but it seemed like a few others in the room who wanted her locked up were more than shocked and even refused to agree with her._

" _I want to choose which prison I go to."_

 _The judge narrowed his eyes, "what for?"_

" _Protection."_

 _The elderly man closed his eyes. With how many cases she was apart of, it was only natural for her to succumb to a terrible fate. There were definitely people who didn't want to deal with her quirk anymore, making sure she never returned. There would surely be a few people who will try and commit such acts to ensure that they won't have to deal with her quirk, intentional or accidental._

 _When the judge reopened his eyes, he had a rather mellow look, as if granted a child solace. "Where do you want to go?"_

 _There was simply only one answer._

" _Styx."_

And that was the story of Chie came to Styx. It was the safest prison she could have chosen, for Styx bowed to no particular country. It was international, you could say that Styx lived up to its namesake as the River Styx. A river that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld. Society and the Criminals that resided within it. Operating on the premise of international waters, not under the jurisdiction of any country.

It wasn't perfect, but should anything happen, she was safe.

Protection wasn't the real reason she chose Styx, rather, it was a more selfish reason.

She wanted to cause more chaos.

That was it, that was her sole reason coming to this prison. There was no greater purpose, though her sentence was short, some tried to extend it, yet, she landed herself a few years in prison and her fun was about to run out...

...or it was supposed to run out _and_ was supposed to be a short one.

 _Chie smirked, arms crossed and eyes closed as the mutterings of the jury echoed like a melody of chaos to her ears. The pat on her shoulder felt really nice, as her lawyer (who wasn't really needed at all) stood._

" _Thank you, but my client wants to talk about how long she should stay in Styx."_

 _The judge raised an eyebrow. "Two to three years, correct?"_

 _The lawyer smiled, charmingly as he did. "Not quite," his smiled twisted into a fox-like smirk. "My client would like to extend her own sentence to ten years minimum."_

 _The smile on Chie's face vanished, or it felt like it did. She opened her eyes, she tried to refute, but she couldn't. She couldn't move, she was locked in place! She tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't, she couldn't even scream if she wanted too. The only thing she could move was her eyes, the lawyer sent a charming smile back to her._

 _Only it seemed to be much more twisted than it seemed._

" _Is this true?" the judge asked as the few in the jury began to smirk. With a false smile that she couldn't change, her eyes trying to plead that it was not the case, the judge slammed his gavel down. "Very well, Chie Shigeki will spend ten years at the international prison, Styx."_

 _Chie wanted to scream, to move. This wasn't what she signed up for! This was an outrage!_

 _The lawyer sat down for a moment, gathering his things. He did not smile, he did not spare her a single glance. "I just hope ten years is long enough to keep you behind bars," his tone was full of venom. When they finally made eye contact with one another, it was then she saw the twisted look of the lawyer._

" _Enjoy your stay in prison, you fuckin' bitch." after gathering his things, she still couldn't move. It was then she made the connection. This lawyer who approached her was affected by her use of quirk, she had no idea if it was a direct use or because someone else was effected, he also knew that her quirk could be controlled at will and his quirk just let her sit silently as her sentence was extended. "I hope that's enough time for a new law to pass."_

 _A quirk to pause her body completely, she would remember that lawyer when she got free. Oh she'll remember. She silently swore that she would get back at this lawyer who approached her with a seemingly good deal. There will be hell to pay!_

And then, the rest was history, of course.

When she first arrived, she spent a week sleeping with one eye open. She could have been removed or snuffed out at any time, or maybe, they hoped the other inmates would do the job for them. When she arrived, she was still treated as a criminal, no special treatment, but that could be due to her sentence. She did agree to it after all.

There was a bright side however.

Now, Chie could spend her time using her quirk freely, as honestly: _who would care about some criminals fighting each other and dying over it?_

No one.

She could use her quirk freely here. It was a shitty world and system, but she would walk at the end of the day, that's what was promised during her trial of free will. She might have the lawyer at the top of her personal hit list, but ten years would look a lot better for her also. She was free to start using her quirk without the law being able to touch her...at least until laws passed in her hometown that caused her to be locked up for good. For her now though, Styx was just an extended vacation.

If that vacation included being a prisoner and treated exactly like one. Despite heading off to Styx willingly, there were regrets with the decision. Chie had no special treatment in the prison, as soon as she arrived, she was already considered like the others and she had suffered the same punishments some days. Though she was thankful to the experiences, even if it was painful at times.

The guards made sure of that, and that almost caused her to shiver. She might have chosen one of the safest prisons from outsiders, but the criminals and even the guards that were allowed to use their quirks on the inmates...

She didn't enter a haven. She entered hell itself.

To make matters worse, she had heard from the high wall mounted TVs that Okinawa was talking about updating their laws. She really hoped that wasn't the case.

Now she was trying to do what she wanted, though limiting herself a fair bit, enjoying what she could when she could. Everything was done in moderation, while she could use her quirk freely, the guards didn't care about her quirk being 'uncontrollable', plus with some people like Ashita that could prove it was an activation quirk (and Styx not having her hometown's laws) it made things difficult. " _But it seems I got someone more entertaining in front of me._ "

"Now, what do you want?" the source of the fighting asked, smirking.

"I told you. Cease this." Yua pointed her thumb behind her, to the chaos on the basketball court.

Chie's smirk slowly but surely transformed, flipping upside down as the intensity in her stare grew. "No."

The silence persisted for a while, until the Yua stopped crossing her arms.

"Ashita, stand back." without a word, the info broker did just that as they gave Yua plenty of space. More than she should.

When people thought about deadly plants, what was the first thought that comes to mind? Nightshade, or rather, Deadly Nightshade. That was a common one that came to mind, but there were other plants just as deadly like the deadly stinging tree known as the Gympie Stinger or the Suicide Plant, common in the Australian rainforests that is known to contain a neurotoxin that is known to be so painful that it drives the person stung to suicide. What about the Poison Snakeweed or Bad Man's Oatmeal, causing progressive paralysis of the central nervous system and was used to kill Socrates in the distance past? Perhaps the Mother of Millions that caused one hundred and twenty five grazing cattle to die on a single trip? Deathcamas, anyone?

Perhaps, we're thinking too inside the box, searching for those that are normally out of our grasp, maybe we should have a look in our own gardens. These examples aren't just the pinnacle of deadly, there is another plant that can produce fatal results to both man and beast alike.

"I'll make this quick."

Was this an issued challenge? Well, Chie would take that challenge up! She wasn't going to relent easily. It was then Yua approached.

The flower grown in many gardens around the globe. Oleander! It was even said that people got sick after eating honey made by bees that had visited the flower, so easily transmitted, but thankfully it had a bitter taste that reduced fatalities. Imagine if it wasn't so bitter. Do not look down on such a common plant, something so common can be quite deadly. Yua's oleander however was a much more dangerous beast.

 _Nerium: It grants Yua the abilities of oleander that she herself is immune to! Whether that be through physical contact or a radius around her!_

"I wonder, can you keep calm for long?" Chie taunted, grinning. She really hated that unchanging expression of her opponent's.

"Then I guess this is a race, who's quirk will cause the other to fall first."

The black haired woman grew uncomfortable as Yua never moved, just continued their little stare down. " _Does she have a quirk like mine?_ "

"Tell me when you start feeling sick."

" _T-This woman! She plans on outlasting me with her quirk?! Not gonna happen flower!_ "

This match turned into a game of quirk chicken. A rough stare down, seeing who will give in first. As this was happening, Ashita stood to the side, watching the two stare each other down. The info broker of the prison did look back to the basketball court, to see how they were faring.

" _Something's wrong,_ " she noted. " _The effects of her quirk are different from before._ "

Styx's Information Broker glanced at the warriors on the court, blindly trying to attack one another as if they could only see red. " _Something is definitely odd here._ "

The staring contest continued, frustration vs a flower's pheromones.

Yua stood close to the source of frustration, the previous distance between the two, as short as it was, was now shortened even closer than before. The woman with a feathered mantle went to stand, but it was if that lunch she ate suddenly started to revolt against her.

"Ah, it's starting." the light green haired convict stated, as saliva started to build up and pour out of the other's mouth as her stomach just wouldn't settle. "I'll stop here, before it gets worse. Now, cease."

When Chie looked up, Yua was offering a hand and it was getting closer to touching her, so in a quick burst of speed, the feathered mantle woman smacked the hand away. "Shouldn't have done that." was all that the woman with oleanders in her hair said, almost sounding like a sigh.

It took a few seconds, but then it happened.

Chie grasped her hand, it was...irritating her! " _Could it be from that smack?_ " she wondered at her now redder hand. She didn't like the feeling.

"Do you see now? How irritating it can be?"

" _How?! How can she be this composed?!_ " the mantled woman backed away. While she used her quirk, Yua never lost her composure.

It was then she came to a sudden conclusion to this mystery. It was just a theory, but she would have to look into it, she had heard of quirks evolving or learning what truly happens with your quirk. She came to the answer that this was also apart of her quirk: while it did in fact raise people's frustrations, there were people who were more level-headed than others.

Some people had short tempers while others were like monks that had practised their patience for years on end. Chikuha was one of the first ones to break out in frustration while Nozomi was irritated and while she fought, wasn't like Chikuha. Then there was Yua, who was seemingly unaffected by it at all.

The conclusion was: it might have raised people's frustrations, but it also took their level of composure and patience into the mix, having people with short tempers would explode first while those who were very calm and composed took quite a while to reach that boiling point.

Chie also came to another conclusion: " _She's my worst possible match up._ "

"Are you done now?" Yua looked down at the instigator, that same indifferent look causing the master of irritation to grow frustrated herself, yet she couldn't quite tell what was making it worse. The skin irritation or Yua.

It was then that Yua, ever so slightly, moved her leg, grazing against the exposed arm of the instigator.

"You know this can end, anytime you want."

"Never," the irritation user seethed.

The stoic looking Yua just stared, her quirk now activated once again and the sick feeling returned stronger. "Very well."

"I think you should wrap it up quickly!" the stoic woman heard Ashita call out, a brief glance in her peripheral vision showed that the people on the court, were a lot more violent than before. Chikuha had exploded the basketball, Koneko tried to scratch everyone with her claws, the masked Demelza seemed the calmest out of the frustrated group and Nozomi looked pretty scary with that look on her face. Fushiko though, while frustrated seemed to enjoy herself in an odd way and Sora was very similar to Chikuha, except without the explosions.

If this went on any further, light injuries would be the least of their problems. It was time to wrap this up.

"You...you're done with the staring—" Yua took a page out of Chikuha's book and kicked the other convict in the face, sending the sick feather mantled woman to the ground.

Simple and effective.

"I think we're done here."

When Chie fell, that was when the fighters on the basketball court started to find themselves more relaxed, still a bit frustrated, but nowhere near the level they were at before, but now, as Ashita filled them in on what had happened (when Nozomi asked of course), some decided there might be a new target to let their now easing frustration out on and none was more eager than the mad bomber herself.

Chikuha grinned as she slammed her fists together. "Perfect! I feel much more relaxed! Now we can return the favour—" the bomber was interrupted as Yua held up her hand, not sparing a glance to the explosive woman, but instead, focusing on Chie.

"Find a guard and request medical assistance, I stopped using my quirk, you'll be under the weather for a while."

"WHAT?! You're just going to let her get away?! Are you a dumbass?! I know you're a plant but fucking hell!"

Through all of Chikuha's shouting, Yua remained perfectly calm and only had one thing to say. "Unless you want to kill her, don't bother with attacking."

The literal timebomb huffed, looking away. A beat-down was one thing, but death meant dealing with the guards more than she liked.

"It's not like you were really angry anyway," Ashita jabbed.

"I was so goddamn angry! You don't know me!"

"Yes I do."

"...fuck."

Chikuha turned away again as Yua watched as Chie slowly dragged herself away from them, only for Fushiko to shout in her ear. "But let's give it up for Yua! I think we should celebrate her saving our asses!"

It was just then, for a split second, that Yua thought that her decision to interfere was in fact, the wrong one. At least she didn't have a headache, so that was a plus.

"Ow!" Fushiko recoiled from trying to put an arm around the oleander girl.

Ashita shook her head as she noticed that Chie was long gone now. "Is something the matter?" Yua asked while the others were with Fushiko, Nozomi offering to have a look to see if she could ease the pain somehow.

"Yeah, something had been bothering me a bit." she began, looking back to the basketball court. "Didn't the effects of her quirk seem a bit fast to you?"

Yua crossed her arms as she looked up at Ashita, "wasn't that how it was originally?"

With a shake of her head, the info broker then stared intently at the ground beneath them. "Chie cannot speed up the effects of her quirk, she can only activate her quirk, though I did notice that the others got frustrated faster than before."

Yua raised a single eyebrow, though it still made her look indifferent to the whole thing. "For example, Koneko got frustrated pretty quickly, when she should be one of the last ones on the court to get to that level of frustration." Ashita continued, now looking over to the group. "We were in her range, you more so, and you didn't find yourself growing frustrated any faster... did you?"

Yua brushed some hair behind her ear. "I am not immune to the effects of her quirk, but I believe I have some resistance. To answer your question, no. The irritation I felt...the best way to sum it up was that it was slow and only stayed at irritation."

The oleander woman wondered just what was up as Ashita sighed. "Since Chie's quirk can't boost the speed and therefore effect of her own quirk, it can be said that there was another quirk in play here that caused them to get frustrated much faster."

Once more, the toxic flower raised an eyebrow, the other one instead this time. "I assume you know who it is?"

A playful grin took over Ashita's lips, though Yua could see the pride in such a grin. "I would be a pretty bad info broker if I didn't."

* * *

One of the tallest prisoners in Styx, Kuroishi Yukimaru, was currently going about his sentence. Just killing time as he went around the block so to speak. He had recently heard about one of the new prisoners, Jin, getting into contact with Fumma.

Normally, prisoners meeting up with one another normally wouldn't bother him, but this was a special case.

"Fumma..."

He quickly spun around, looking behind him as his thoughts were interrupted. He had definitely heard something. A rattling sound.

It was faint, incredibly so, but it was there.

Kuroishi's long hair suddenly blasted into the air as a voice let themselves be known to the giant. "Howdy, pardner."

Kuroishi snapped his head around as he saw a man, shirtless with a wide brimmed hat and a long white scarf with a single 'tail' of the scarf flowing behind him, as if picked up by a gust of wind.

"Hope I wasn't intruding, you seemed pretty focused elsewhere."

The long, dark purple haired giant remember silent, watching the cowboy starting to walk around him, without closing the distance. "You seem to be a bit strong or maybe, that's your quirk giving off that strength, either way, I hope you don't mind if we have a little sport, do ya?"

It seemed that Kuroishi didn't have a say in the matter as the sudden cowboy flicked his thumb, blasting a powerful shot of air that brushed by the side of his face. The man that stood before him gave a taunting smirk.

Neither of them said a word, just choosing to stare at one another until one decided to attack first. Said person who attacked first, was indeed the cowboyish prisoner, Mulhall. Unleashing his quirk, the blasts of air hit the body of the giant, though unlike his other victims, Kuroishi stood tall, the rapid barrage of blasts doing nothing to push him back.

" _If it's a fight..._ " Kuroishi took a step forward, albeit incredibly slowly as he did.

"Tanking my shots, eh." Kuroishi heard the cowboy say as the number of blasts had rapidly doubled, causing the giant to try and walk through the blasts. "With a body or quirk like that, you might make things a bit more drawn out. Something that could be useful."

When the barrage of blasts began to decrease, that's when Kuroishi began his charge. He reached his arm out but Mulhall had easily backed away, until something came out of the giant's palm.

"Bones?" The bone fired towards the cowboy, but thankfully due to his quick reaction, managed to blast the small bone away with a quick air blast. It was almost as if the small piece of bone was a bullet!

 _Osteokinesis: This quirk basically allows Kuroishi to enhance the strength of his bones! Growing the ones he has or completely new ones, it also applies some minor regeneration when he forces or shoots those bones out of his body and can quickly heal the existing bones within him. Though depending on the length and thickness of the new bones. He does need some time and concentration to create or grow his bones for them to be stronger. The stronger the bones, the heavier and slower he becomes in a trade for power. He could even use some bones as weapons!_

Kuroishi's hand healed the wound where the bone came out pretty quickly, causing the cowboy to smile. "Hahahaha, it seems we're going to have a duel!"

Shooting out bones was painful, though nothing he couldn't handle after years of using his quirk in the first place. He was quite thankful to the pain tolerance his quirk had given him. He doubted however that he could keep up with his attacker in terms of shooting out bones.

The purple haired prisoner thought about focusing something stronger, perhaps something to mimic a shield, but his opponent didn't look to be the time to sit and wait until he made something from bones.

Well, not for long.

He raised his hand as Mulhall slipped into position. He just hoped that the pain wouldn't build up too much. That would be a problem.

If there was a tumbleweed, it would have rolled past right about now.

Mulhall flicked his thumbs, blasting air blast after air blast towards the bone giant, who fired a few bone-like bullets in return. Even if the exchange of attacks was quite brief, Kuroishi understood.

He didn't really stand much of a chance with long ranged fighting, especially when he was the one also focusing on ranged attacks.

So he decided to change his strategy, moving a bit slowly due to his bones, he planned on finishing this fight as the blasts hit his chest, legs, arms and even his face, a slight smile appearing on the once stoic face as he took the hits.

" _You enjoying this? Don't worry, I am too._ " thought the cowboy as he let up his attack, allowing Mulhall to attack free of being hit by ranged attacks. Kuroishi took a swing, but his current bones slowed him down enough for Mulhall to easily dodge the attacks the giant threw at him.

"A bit slow, but it seems you got power behind those swings...and in those bones of yours."

Kuroishi continued his onslaught as he fired a few bones out of his body, sadly with Mulhall continuing to build distance between them, it gave him ample time to shoot his bone bullets out of the air.

Mulhall watched in amusement as Kuroishi still tried to hit him, despite not being attacked anymore. It was then that Mulhall came to a decision, right as he ducked under a pretty powerful swing.

"That's enough, we're done here." the cowboy mused.

Kuroishi however just kept his eyes on the wild west gunslinger.

Mulhall smiled. "You seem to be pretty strong there pardner, how about you put that to something?"

The giant narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

The cowboy just grinned. "It's nothing really, just a friendly little get together to relax and let off some steam."

"I refuse." Kuroishi ignored the look the cowboy gave him as he continued. "You attacked me as a test, I passed but I have no intention of letting out some pent up frustration."

Mulhall snapped his fingers, pointing at the giant. "You seemed pretty into that fight though."

"That was self defence." the stoic Kuroishi defended.

It was in vain as Mulhall countered, "People don't charge in and continue the attack as a part of self defence, nor do they enjoy getting hurt. I saw that smile."

Mulhall grinned as the stoic giant remained silent. "I still refuse your invitation."

The cowboy slid his hands into his pockets. "Shame." the disappointment was clear in tone. "If you ever change your mind, just meet up with me or I can tell you where to meet up, or better yet, I'll find you again."

Kuroishi watched as Mulhall walked right on by, he didn't act, they didn't act, the fight was over. Whatever Mulhall was trying to do, was a mystery to the giant and he wasn't really interested in finding out.

Though he could have sworn he heard that rattling sound again.

* * *

Chie weakly stood as she could barely lean against the wall. It was a wonder that she had regained consciousness so quickly.

She tried to walk forward a bit but ended up falling to her knees, her breathing quickened if only for a moment as she kept opening and closing her mouth a couple of times as she felt that there was more saliva in her mouth than before and it didn't help as her stomach contracted so suddenly that she could describe it as violent.

It wasn't great.

Chie tried to stand back up, using the wall to help, but then fell back onto her knees as her head bobbed forwardly randomly, mouth shut as tight as she could as she then returned her last meal to mother nature as it poured out it waves.

She heaved as the ground was coated in her old meal's new form. She did feel a little better after regurgitating her lunch, but now her mouth tasted of vomit and that she was paler than before and now sweating to add onto everything.

Great!

The worst part was the the pungent stench from her vile pile. She didn't even want to look at the chunks that protruded from the small swamp as the smell continued to invade her nostrils.

After she concluded that she was fine (after another round of bile being emptied onto the ground), she managed to stand up and walk away. There was only place she wanted to go and that was her cell. Her haven.

Though she didn't get far. Leaning on the wall with one of the guard's jackets was none other than Akita. "You were messing with my _girls_." the tone was almost emotionless, though it quickly gained a darker tone towards the end there and the glare was only an added bonus.

Chie wasn't in the mood to deal with her after what had just happened nor was she well enough to deal with her. She cursed that there was no one else asides from her, that mean there was one to use her quirk on.

Her quirk had a flaw, it made everyone around her more and more irritated to the point causing any sort of fight, random acts of violence...however, while she was immune to the effects of her own quirk, she wasn't immune to the frustration of the people around her.

Which meant an isolated use on a single target like this would result in her being attacked and if the levels were high enough, there was a possibility of her suffering a brutal death.

In essence, she was fucked.

"I don't like it when people hurt what's mine." Akita growl, stepping forward, approaching her, here, alone.

Akita placed one foot forward with enough force that it caused the dust from underneath to briefly bounce off of the floor but only by an inch. She reeled back her fist before it soon came into contact with Chie who tried to dodge the attack but was too weak to achieve that goal of hers.

She tried blocking her face, but it was as if Akita had slipped through guard, through her very arms and punched her anyway. As the instigator fell, only one thing went through her mind. " _I haven't seen enough wonderful performances yet..._ "

As Akita stared down coldly to the now unconscious Chie, a sigh escaped from her that seemed to be a little more shaky than usual. "I hate it more when it's one of my girls that does it."

Tugging at her jacket, she decided to head to the mess hall. Not even sparing a glance to the fallen woman behind her.

* * *

The place was empty. A ghost town if he had to call it that. Mulhall brought his hands up, ready to fire as he turned around, facing the rattlesnake that appeared. The rattling gave it away.

"Knew you'd show up, pardner."

"..." the snake was silent, the eyes did all the work. Eyes that needed excitement. Eyes that were bored by the cowboy's actions.

Mulhall had his thumbs ready to attack. "You going to continue your attack this time?" he asked with a hint of caution.

"You fought with others and didn't even give me the time of day," the tone didn't settle well with the cowboy. The snake was furious. "You even instigated those fights. I thought what you said was exciting, but it doesn't seem to be exciting in the slightest."

The one who wasn't a snake sighed. "I know you might feel a bit insulted from that, but that's because you're already worthy of what I'm trying to do. The others that I fought with was more of a test to see if they are worth the time and effort."

Inyoku had slid fluidly into a fighting stance, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"I don't care."

The snake slithered with greater speed than Mulhall anticipated, so he began to rapidly fire his quirk.

" _No wonder he took up that pose,_ " thought the snake. " _It's not exactly what I'm strong against._ "

Inyoku didn't have any way to properly counter the cowboy's quirk. The best way for him to deal with it was to get closer.

 _Rattlesnake: A mutant type quirk that grants Inyoku-Yui snake-like abilities and other features such as the addition of a snake tail that he can use for quite a lot of different situations. It also grants him other snake-like abilities that might spring to mind. To sum up his quirk, he truly is a snake._

As Inyoku ran forward, he opted to block the attacks, though that didn't seem effective as he was already being pushed back.

" _Again!_ "

Inyoku tried to close the difference between them again, alas to no real change as he was brought back to where he started.

" _Again!_ "

Mulhall focused only on keeping Inyoku at bay, but the snake just wouldn't give up. He still continued the assault of air blasts, blasting Inyoku back further and further.

The snake still persisted.

" _He's...he's insane._ "

Just what kind of person was this?! The desire to fight was strong with this rattlesnake. "You don't need to be tested! You should know why!"

"And I said I don't care!" Inyoku was blasted back again, he just couldn't reach the cowboy. Not like this.

Inyoku-Yui narrowed his eyes as he stared at the cowboy. " _Air. He's firing air huh._ " he stood up again from his failed attempts. For a second, he knelt for a second before darting into a full on sprint.

"This again?" Mulhall fired, blasts of air firing at blistering speeds towards the snake, but this time, the snake had jumped high into the air and started to spin towards him at great speeds. The snake spun and spun mid-air as the shirtless man watched as his own shots were quickly rendering themselves useless.

" _What?! My air blasts aren't_ —"

Inyoku's tail hit the scarf wearing cowboy right in the face, knocking him back, flat on his back as the wide brimmed hat followed suit on the dirt. " _What just happened?_ " After a few seconds, he concluded that the snake's spinning repelled his own air blasts. He needed to be faster! More force! This snake wasn't going to make this easy on him.

Sadly he didn't have time as the snake was above him.

"Get up." the rattlesnake's voice was full of excitement. "I'm not done with you yet."

As Mulhall coughed, rolling over and pushing himself off the ground as he clutched his fists together into the dirt, he slowly got back into his previous stance. " _Just a lucky strike, that's all._ " he panted while swiping away the blood. He knew better now.

" _I can't waste anymore time!_ "

"You better act fast," taunted the snake. "I'm a lot closer this time. Go on, say your thing, like always."

…

"DRAW!" Mulhall fired instantly as Inyoku charged, but the snake's yellow eyes noticed a difference.

Mulhall had ammo this time, small clumps of dirt and rocks. Mulhall's air blasts had changed as the rocks that were fired did something that the regular blasts of air didn't. It pierced the snake's skin!

The rocks shot into his legs and arms, there wasn't actually many rocks that were fired as the dirt was destroyed during the launch. Blood poured out upon impact, but thankfully none went through his limbs fully.

The white haired snake was sent flying backwards, landing on the dirt. It was much harder to move as the cowboy picked up his hat, dropping the rest of the dirt and rocks on the ground.

"If it's a fight you want that badly, then I'll fight you when the time is right. Make our own little match, so I'll see you in the ring rattlesnake." Mulhall dusted his hat before placing it firmly on the top of his head. "When that day comes, it shall be at high noon."

Inyoku couldn't move fast as the cowboy had used his own quirk to boost his own speed out of there. Despite being unable to chase after the cowboy this time, he actually felt excited!

He just had to wait for that fateful day, whenever that would come. Luckily for him, however, he might not have to wait long, it had been a while since the last time he fought someone. He was quite pumped.

Though, he needed to do something about his injuries...

* * *

A man wearing the normal black and white striped uniform panted as he had nowhere to run too, he was stuck in a corner.

Swiping the sweat from his brow, the man glanced up to see a hulking figure shadowed by the darkness at the other end of the room despite the multiple lights shining down in the room.

This cornered man was quite bruised as the light reflected off his bald head before he clenched his fists together, ready to go in punching and swinging at a moments notice.

The sweating man suddenly charged at his opponent as a tendrils of blood appeared from his wounds, but that sadly was a mistake.

"Heh," the larger man grinned. When he had swung his four digit hand, that was the moment the shadowed man attacked!

A quick strike to the solar plexus had managed to cause the man to spew blood out as he was lifted into the air. After hanging seemingly motionless on the fist, he was suddenly sent to the ground and this man soon placed his foot upon his head.

Pinned under that man, now bathed in the light that shone down on the fallen man, his opponent's form took shape.

He was a tall and muscular man with a grin that seemed to be full of sharp looking teeth, but that could have just been the way he was grinning, a trick of the light. He wore what seemed to the the orange prison jumpsuit, but the top half was nowhere to be seen, instead wearing orange pants that belonged to the jumpsuit as he was barefoot. If there was one way to describe this man, it would beast-like. Dark orange eyes, blazing hotter than an erupting volcano and ash blonde hair that fell down to the back of his neck. What a monster.

And the pressure slowly began to apply itself to the rather soft skull. "I thought you'd be more fun than this, oh well." grinned the victor.

Once he pressed his foot down fully, he never raised it up again. Nor did he need too.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter! It might be a bit obvious to see who exactly the first arc antagonist may or may not be, haha. As well as some minor antagonists.**

 **Sorry it took a while for this chapter to come out, but we all good now. Enjoy!**


	12. Food Chain

When Shi sat silently in the infirmary, a heavy silence had been hanging in the air. On her patrol late last night, she had sniffed out a horrid smell, one that would make one sick, and since she had an enhanced sense of smell, it would have caused her to stop and puke her intestines out if she wasn't used to it.

She was oddly thankful to being acquainted with the foul odour. It proved to be handy.

Hokori who had been tagging with her during their late night shift wasn't as lucky with the smell, hence why he wasn't here with her. It would just make things worse, especially after what he saw that night.

Lambert looked down at his current patient, ignoring the one to the right of him as they were covered from head to toe under a pristine, clean white sheet.

The guard dog wanted to say something, but nothing really came to mind, but it wasn't long until a cup was placed in front of her. "Here, you've been waiting for a while." smiled the other head doctor, Carna. The dog nodded, taking the cup as the female doctor headed over to the covered up prisoner.

With one quick intake of air, she pulled the sheet right off, not even waiting to exhale as the prisoner underneath was revealed under the seemingly blinding lights. The figure was missing his eyes with an unhinged jaw as both hands and unequal parts of the forearms seemed to be cut off, that was also including the legs, but they were more symmetrical in what was missing, looking to be sawn off by the knees in a messy way. The last part that stuck out was the skull, a large part of it was busted open like a pinata or a watermelon that just took a baseball bat directly.

It was a bit better looking than how Shi found it, seeing as the corpse was no longer having bits of their brain leaking out of their skull for example. "Hmm," Carna inspected the corpse with a serious look in her eye. "The only sign of brutality is the wound from the head and was definitely the cause of death, everything else is too precise in comparison."

Lambert stopped looking at his patient and turned to face the corpse. "Wasn't he one that eyepatch convict's lackey?"

Carna nodded. "He was, but upon some questioning, it seemed he was more shocked to discover that he ended up dead more than anyone else. He is still being tested, but at this point, he seems genuinely shocked."

Shi closed her eyes, sadly deaths in Styx was just as possible as any other.

Any one of those prisoners could end up dead.

"We can't find any prints? While the arms, legs and eyes seemed to be done by tools, surely the skull might have some prints we could use to find the inmate responsible."

"We're not detectives, Lambert, we're simply doctors." Carna sighed as she pointed to the skull. "Whatever prints were on the skull, are now mostly faded, but we can—"

Shi started to tune out the talk between the two doctors, it wasn't really something she was interested to learn about really. Her ears did perk up once she heard something about 'trying to find the prisoner' though, an idea had formed. "If finding prisoners proves to be difficult, considering all the numbers we have to work with, why not use a trusted prisoner to find out?" she offered to the two doctors, backs faced against her as they looked over the corpse. "A trusted prisoner like Mariko."

It was then that the two doctors stopped, silence once returned to the infirmary.

"Is something wrong?"

The two doctors shared a look to one another before Lambert ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry Shi, but Mariko isn't up for the task."

"Why not?"

"She's gotten more reclusive, she has her meals but she rarely pops out anymore." Lambert waved his hands, causing the guard dog to take a sip from her drink.

"I suppose that's why her scent isn't as strong as it used to be. Is she being held, elsewhere?" the only response she got was that of Lambert nodding.

It was then that Carna spoke up, covering the corpse again. "We'll probably get more test results shortly to find at least one person involved, it definitely seems like a two man job, but if you need another trustworthy prisoner, we got a few suggestions."

Shi raised an eyebrow. She would like that.

"There's three that come to mind."

* * *

One of the two wardens, Seimei, was sitting in his office. His hands interlocked as he was deep in thought.

" _There's been no news as of yet,_ " he thought, closing his eyes. Despite their efforts, things have been progressing rather slowly. He needed to talk to Eris about it later, or maybe she was informed of something herself.

He was also informed of a death that had recently happened too, which was currently getting looked into. It wasn't out of the ordinary to hear of prisoners dying at the hands of each other.

Prisoners either went about their days with nothing happening to them, got into brawls and suffered injuries or happened to have pissed off the wrong person on their bad day and ended up dead. It was nothing new, but sometimes they popped up from time to time.

Usually it was either the first two. Injured or uninjured. Some prisoners were more likely to kill and some only chose to kill, but generally, that was more of a minority of prisoners. The ones that preferred or only chose to kill were instantly handled.

The most likely suspect had been currently locked up in his cell while the victim was still alive and Fumma was currently being questioned, but seemed to be uninvolved in the murder despite what had happened prior to the death of their own meeting. Seimei wasn't worried about the killer, they would figure them out soon enough, but it was the precise cuts found on the victim that he struck out to him.

It wasn't exactly the first time that happened.

Last time a body with precise cuts to their body popped up, well, it wasn't exactly precise. It was messier and more like bites from which an official investigation claimed that they were from some really hungry pests that might have gotten a small taste of blood and ate as much as they could, like crows pecking at roadkill on the side of the road. There was a possible case of cannibalism or torture form some other convicts before the victim died along with the appearance of bites, but he found no human prints on the body, which meant pests, such as rats. However, the body that was found last time was indeed a victim of a previous inmate attack that resulted in some serious injuries and a loss of limb in the past, which would have made him an easy target for any future attack which could have weakened him enough before he was killed, though hungry rats eating corpses weren't uncommon, sometimes hungry rats did in fact eat human corpses if they needed to and even rarer, attacked people...less rare when a quirk was involved.

 _Especially_ when a quirk was involved.

A former prisoner at the time of that case, around the age of eighty-seven, had a quirk that allowed him to pretty much command rats by whistling.

The detective handling the case, at the assurance of Sagimaru wanting to lend a helping hand, took to the investigation, using his own forensic quirk to figure this mystery murder out while the guards followed their roles and let the detective do his thing. It was especially helpful at the time with the doctors being busy. In the end, he came to the conclusion that it was most likely pests that finished him off which lead to the speculation of the old man. It didn't help that when he first came to Styx that he had commanded some rats follow him.

When a murder occurred, the culprit was punished. However, that case was the first time it was difficult to find the culprit...and it seemed to be repeated today, years later. Thanks to the detective, this rare anomaly of a case was closed as the old rat man had passed away due to naturally causes a week before the inmate turned up dead, which lead it to being a case of a dying wish command whistle with that particular inmate being the very unlucky victim. One inmate in the neighbouring cell confirmed that he heard some whistling before it went dead quiet the night the old man had passed away.

These particular wounds were cleaner than the supposed flesh eating rats that the detective who investigated the corpse last time. There was also the fact that it was the calves and forearms that were cut off rather than being bitten or torn off. Normal rats couldn't get through that, even if they were quirk affected corpse eating ones. There was a possibility that another prisoner could have had a hand in it for their own bizarre reason this time, which was probably the reason that happened, but it was just bizarre.

Another was that the victim purposefully cut off their own limbs to use more of their quirk at the cost of losing more blood in their system.

The victim's quirk allowed them to weaponize their blood into whips with sharp tendrils on the end, more blood just made the quirk more powerful, at the cost of using said blood inside the user at the time.

It seemed to be a likely case.

The only prints the doctors were able to find was the killing blow and while he knew that the killer would be found, the fact that the cuts didn't have prints, that's what caused confusion, much like that one singular case in the past.

Standing, Seimei headed over to a bookshelf, searching through the many thick books that stood tall in a line. Eyes scanned over each one until they landed on a red one, pulling the book out of the shelf, he quickly flipped it open. "Hmm."

It was handy to have records so easily on hand.

The male warden flipped through the pages, a log of the more recent events within Styx in terms of their death count until he found that old case.

"Investigation carried out by Detective Tsutsui." he read aloud from the red book as he found the page he was looking for. Tsutsui was a highly skilled detective and was spoken highly of by Sagimaru. Tsutsui did help out with the investigation quite well on that one rare occasion. They have dealt quite well by themselves ninety-nine percent of the time, but that one time case was appreciated. The caped warden read through more of the book, lingering wasn't going to unravel the mysteries.

Some other pages in the book of prisoner deaths also showed former prisoners losing limbs in their battles against their fellow convicts, dying in the process as their arms, legs or other body parts were cut, pulled and smashed and whatnot all together. There were some prisoners that had lost their limbs when fighting other prisoners before too that were still kicking to this day, whether they remained here or not.

But only the rat case shared a similar pattern to the body found today.

It definitely couldn't be that same corpse-eating rat or other pest reasoning again, these were cleaner and the culprit last time had been dead for a while (not to mention the rats being removed from Styx). It could have well been the convict's own quirk with how difficult those wounds were to get prints. Once again, it seemed to be a likely case. Stuck against a tough opponent, cutting your body up to use more of your quirk to survive and win, but ultimately losing.

From the report he got from Carna not that long ago, the prints from the initial killing blow could be found they have already tested it with some of the current free roaming prisoners. Though nothing was turning up for the precise cuts.

"..." Seimei glanced from the ones that lost their limbs in battle and the current one on his desk that was found late last night. Sagimaru was also just one phone call away if they really needed it. " _No, we cannot be reliant. This is a Styx issue._ " Seimei couldn't deny that they wouldn't need Tsutsui's help, but it might be a last resort if the doctors couldn't find anything. Plus, the killer needed to be dealt with first along with something just as equally important.

Before he could think more on the subject, the phone on his desk began to ring as he let out a soft groan following the ringing, "if the phone goes off one more time, I think I'm going to go insane." The warden closed the book, shoving it back into the bookshelf as he then picked up the phone, hoping it was some news that he wanted earlier.

"Eris?"

* * *

Blazing orange eyes opened, back into the cramped space that was his cell. The muscular figure tapped his foot to an offbeat tune against the wall, it just didn't sound right at all.

He wanted to get out again. His encounter last night was fun and all, but he rarely got to do that, trapped within the tight space of this cell, unable to leave.

The encounter also proved one thing: the food chain was out of whack.

That poor bastard he crushed never knew who _HE_ was! Outrageous!

It was then that a light shined into his cell. "It seems you had fun last night." a voice drifted into the cell, giving the ash blonde haired man a glimpse at the speaker's eyes.

"It would have been more fun if I got to leave this shitty cell more often," the man groaned, still tapping his foot against the wall. "As well as being able to roam the place too."

He was very limited to where he could go once he did leave his cell, but that was only one tiny area and back here. It sucked.

The voice came from where the light shined in saying, "hahaha, that's funny, real funny. You know that you're not allowed to be seen anywhere that is out of your cell." another short laugh followed. "Besides, you should be glad that you are even allowed to leave this cell in the first place. I'm being quite generous."

The trapped prisoner groaned, "I'm pretty sure that it isn't time for my meals. So what do you want?" he watched as the guard's eyes rolled around. "It's not like you guys to come get me during the day besides giving me food."

"You sound like you don't want me here."

A scoff came from the prisoner. "Unless it's one of those nightly activities that I enjoy so much." he said with a smirk, forming a fist with his hand. "If it's not that or food, leave me alone."

"Guess you want to stay locked up in that cell forever then."

It took a second for it to fully sink in. "What...do you mean by that?" he asked as the grin fell from his face, now replaced with curiosity.

"What does that mean? It means that you'll be able to walk out of this door in the daylight."

The convict stood up, immediately. "What's the catch?"

"There's only one real thing I need you to do, but I think you have that covered already." the voice sighed. "Not like you'd even follow my orders if it were different."

The muscular man crossed his arms, thinking over what they said. If he was honest, he didn't really give a shit, it meant that he was free to roam the prison once more! "You've already decided to let me out, so hurry it up!"

"Hahaha! Great! I'll open the door for you now."

As the door opened, with a resounding creaking noise that echoed in the cramped room, he was told one last detail, something that tickled him pink from pure joy.

"Go crazy."

* * *

Rhys looked around the prison, things had calmed down from Gousen's sudden attack a while back and now that snake guy, the one with the tail, was taken to the infirmary as a cowboy went around the ward, challenging others to a duel for some reason or another.

But now? Silence.

So for now, he just gazed and people watched. The guards, the inmates, the occasional fly or some other small bugs that managed to get in. He kept his bloodshot eyes on some of these guards and inmates, ones that were strong, like that Gousen guy.

The Irish prisoner made sure to keep out of their way. He found it quite interesting that he could understand everyone that didn't speak the languages he knew. Outside of Styx, he couldn't even translate what someone might have said in Korean for example, but here, it was like they were all speaking his language. Was this perhaps the effects of someone's quirk? It had to be. There were some processes they went through when they arrived at the prison.

" _Quirk usage on the human brain is quite something._ " he found it very interesting. He glanced at some other prisoners that sat near him, nodding towards him as they did. Perfect.

The sounds of stomping gained his attention as a bald prisoner appeared, and it caused him grief already.

"They let you out, already?" one of the prisoners, the grey eyed Gin glanced in the direction of Gousen.

Gousen, who had stepped foot into the ward narrowed his eyes at the self-burning inmate. "Don't worry, I'll get to you soon, parasite. I'm not done yet."

Seeing the two strong contenders, Rhys coughed into his hand. "I'm more surprised they didn't lock you back up immediately—" when Gousen turned his gaze to him, he found himself rushing the words out. He did not want that guy to hunt him next. "—when a beaten up body was found just a little bit ago."

Some of the other nearby prisoners that were of note slowly began to tune in. "So there's someone else acting like Gousen? Great..." sighed the half Russian, Juro.

"..." Kuroishi said nothing as he sat further away, though he kept his eyes on Gousen while Reiji Maeda was in a similar position as he chose to simply watch from afar. It was safer that way.

Of course, as soon as he appeared, some prisoners who didn't want to get caught up in the mess, that was usually what happened whenever Gousen was released, took off, such as David and Jin while some others were never there to begin with.

"..." Gousen didn't know how to feel about how there was someone else doing it. "Tch, probably just another fucking parasite."

The long haired Kuroishi narrowed his eyes. Not at Gousen, just on his own thoughts as Juro next to him sighed. "Well, how about you _go_ and deal with that 'parasite.'"

"And let any of you leave? No chance. Bugs need to be crushed before they spread, infect and multiply."

"Just, fuck off would ya?" came one of the other prisoners.

"You wouldn't have any other 'bugs' to crush if someone beats you to it." said another.

Gousen however, kept his gaze on all of them, ignoring their words. All these parasites, acting like they were humans. It made him sick.

When he looked at them, he simply didn't see people. He saw parasites, in their head. Imagine a person as a grey silhouette with one writhing parasite in the area of their head. Some had small parasites, some had big, some even had multiple writhing around! Disgusting! How insane of this man!

There were parasites that needed to be purged!

"So you're the person that people have been crediting for my deeds," a voice came from behind the bald man as a new arrival entered the room. "I don't like it when someone walks in and gets all my credit because of my elongated stay in the solitary slammer."

It was a prisoner none of them could recall. Tall and muscular, blazing orange eyes with a grin ready to cause carnage. Their whole appearance and vibe screamed monster.

However, what shocked the male ward prisoners the most was that Gousen, the prisoner that would attack you no matter what and potentially kill you, froze as he gazed at the new arrival.

What Gousen saw wasn't a man, far from it. Nor was it a parasite crawling around in his head. What Gousen saw, was that from head to toe...was parasites. This man, this new arrival was entirely formed from those parasites, an incarnation of writhing maggots.

This man wasn't infected. He _was_ the parasite.

A hivemind!

"Stunned by my beauty?" he grinned. "Allow me to introduce myself to you fresh bags of meat. The name's Vito and I heard that the food chain was out of whack, so I'm here to re-establish it and remind everyone just who is on top!"

"...Oh god, it's another Gousen..."

One random, nameless prisoner had happened to share all their thoughts aloud.

"Oi! I thought I said that I was the original prisoner beater here!" Vito grinned, licking his lips as he walked forward. "I don't play nice like someone who only kills occasionally. Even if you don't know me, I'm going to make sure you all remember."

With a widened grin, Vito raised his arm high into the air before slamming it down onto one of the prisoners that had nodded previously at Rhys. When he raised his hand off the ground, the prisoner was crushed into the ground, into a small little compacted crater.

Dead.

"Who's next?" Vito licked his lips again, the grin widening. "Come on, don't make me choos—" a punch to the jaw sent the ash blonde monster back a bit.

"Disgusting parasites need to be purged." Gousen frowned at the seemingly older prisoner in terms of sentence before throwing another, landing another clean blow on the man.

Gousen never let up the blows he started, making sure to punch as hard as he could. This man needed to die! The parasites needed to go! "ARGH!" he screamed as he pummeled the hivemind of parasites.

The punches connected, but they might as well have been butterflies. "Is that all you got?"

Vito punched back, the same way that Gousen had hit him as a glint of rage appeared within Gousen's eyes. Now the tables were back to how they were before, just swapped. Vito's punches were doing nothing now. "HAHA! SO YOU HAVE A DEFENCE TYPE QUIRK! LET'S SEE HOW LONG THAT HOLDS UP! HAHA!"

"Should we help?" one prisoner asked.

"Fuck no!" another slapped the first before they ran off, Reiji ignored them as he himself was almost going to leave too, but…he didn't. This Vito guy rubbed him the wrong way, like one of those prisoners that tried to climb the hierarchy ladder, but...the best bet was to leave. Kuroishi on the other hand just watched the fight and soon stood up himself as he left too.

"Let's see if you can handle this?!" Vito barked suddenly as his punches grew stronger, despite the resistance of the bald inmate hunter's quirk, those blows were becoming too much.

 _Dominate: This quirk allows Vito to boost his own strength and durability immensely! The more he uses this power, it has an impact on his body, growing temporary to match the amount of power he is coursing through his body as he pushes those muscles beyond normal limits!_

Yes, he did name the quirk himself.

Now with even more powerful punches, Vito continued his one-sided barrage against the defending Gousen, who started to sweat from the blows. He knew, as soon as his quirk became more effective for a few seconds, it was over for him.

" _This parasite...his punches are fast and powerful..._ "

Gousen slowly began to throw some punches back before he suddenly changed it up with a low sweep, interrupting Vito's barrage somewhat.

He was not going to let some filthy hivemind of parasites win! "I'LL ERASE YOUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE, YOU DISGUSTING PARASITE!"

He would make sure of it!

...

Parasites. Gousen had always hated parasites as long as he could remember. Why was he the only one who could see them? Because it was his job to remove the parasites from society.

Right?

 _A ten year old Gousen had just watched his father fall to the ground, lifelessly as a man with a long tongue cackled to himself. "That's what you get bastard. Now take her away."_

" _Gousen!" the cries of his mother, being restricted by the arms of another man, holding her closely, a disgusting grin on his face as he dragged her outside. "GOUSEN!"_

" _Shut up!" shouted the second, clamping a hand around her mouth._

 _Small little Gousen could do nothing as his mother was taken away, her screams fading away as the long tongue man spun a knife in his hands. "Man, she'll definitely score us quite the sum." the long tongue swabbed his brow. "A woman like her would be worth a lot...now time for you."_

 _The man had turned his attention back on the child, little Gousen stuck in the corner of the room, his father's corpse only inches away from him. The blood had poured out of the wound, staining his mother's lovely white carpet an ugly shade of dark red._

" _Stay...stay away!" he cried out, the man had stomped forward, gripping the knife._

" _Sorry kid, but you're just not what's hot on the market right now, you know." Mister long tongue did not sound the tiniest bit sorry before he had stomped on the head that belonged to the man he had just killed seconds before._

 _The grin of this madman had caused something to snap within the child. It was supposed to be a simple job for this killer, kill whoever wasn't hot on the market, kidnap who was and meet up with his partner to sell off that woman for some easy bucks to whoever was willing to buy after he dealt with the clean up. However, the knife that was supposed to kill the child, bounced right off the kid's body just as soon as he had his tongue pulled, causing him to fly towards the child, tripping over the dead man._

 _The knife, discarded to the floor, was picked up by the child suddenly. "AAAH!" cried the child, fear plastered over his fast as he drove the knife down._

 _Mister long tongue laid on the ground as the knife embedded itself into his scalp. That was the first time Gousen had taken a life. An act of survival._

 _He ran outside, calling for his mother, searching._

 _Yet he never found her._

 _At the same time however, he had another goal that he discovered. Something more important than that._

 _He saw it squirm, in both of them! Rolling around, writhing, pulsating. Icky bugs that crawled around in their heads. His father said that the doctor will make the yucky bugs go away, but...he found another way to make the bugs disappear!_

 _From that day forward, the child ran away, growing into a teenager and then a man. He kept himself occupied during those years as he killed more and more of the people who had bugs in their heads. He swore he would get rid of them. He had realized early on, he was too weak without his quirk's time limit, so he trained himself, pushing his limits. He needed to be stronger than those bugs. During the majority of his teenage years, the teen known as Gousen had started to kill any criminals he came across._

 _Never once showing them remorse._

 _Why should he show remorse to a bug? All the bugs did was do bad things. He was just cleaning them up!_

 _These criminals he targeted were small and more of the back-alley variety type of criminals. They stayed out of the hero's eyesight. To Gousen though, they were just like the man with the long tongue. Infested by parasites, crawling in their skin._

 _It was then that he decided for certain that he would free the world from its filth, rid it of the creatures hiding in human skin!_

 _Those parasites would die at his hands!_

 _He will find the source of these parasites!_

 _It didn't last long however._

 _The more he killed the 'parasite infected' criminals living in the back alleys, the more he bleed into the highways of society. He couldn't focus on only the ones that stayed in the dark forever. There were bigger bugs to squash. He killed more of the criminals that appeared in broad daylight, the criminals that the heroes hunted to keep the world safe._

 _It didn't take him long until he was arrested. Apprehended by heroes. One of those_ _who caught him was a new to the game, looking to be an intern from one of the hero school programs, work experience most likely, not much older than sixteen. She had separated his arms and legs with a dark coloured light, bypassing his defences._

 _A rookie that went by Dark Feather among some seasoned pros that he could hear when one of the pro-heroes congratulated her as was unable to move from where he was cut down. But despite his arms and legs being separated from his body, he didn't even feel any pain. He was tied up and found that his arms and legs had reattached themselves, probably from her quirk. As the police van's doors closed, he was glad that he was able to take down that parasite but he didn't understand why the heroes attacked him! He was helping them!_

 _When his trial went underway, it was clear that he was guilty, yet they all understood one thing perfectly clear._

 _He did not see the people he killed as humans anymore. Only husks moved by parasites, though at times, this had caused a problem. His delusions of parasites were wrong sometimes, and some clean blood was mixed in among his usually stained ones. While most of the people he killed were bad people, that didn't stop him from killing the occasional bystander._

" _From the sounds of things, he should go to an asylum and get professional help."_

" _An asylum?! No! He needs to be behind bars! He's a killer and will kill again! We already know he kills when he sees those delusions!"_

" _We already know that he kills, but he only sees these 'parasites' when it comes to criminals for the vast majority. He still has a stable mind asides from those delusions, I agree that it would be better to send him to a secure prison instead."_

" _He should get some help first..."_

" _Some of the people he killed were criminals, sure. I'll give you that, but what of the ones who weren't? He killed innocent people because he saw those delusions of his in their heads! It's better to lock him up. There's no telling if he would see those delusions in those doctors and therapists."_

 _The argument didn't last long however, as they soon came to their decision._

" _Send him to Styx."_

 _The rest was history._

Gousen had changed the tide of the battle. Punch after punch, he was taking control. Straight right, left jab, right hook, knee, left hook, right uppercut and then a kick to the stomach to send him back.

Some onlookers frowned, the same conclusion was going to happen again. Seems this guy was just like the few who only talked big. It was a common thought they shared, until they saw the grin that appeared on Vito's face as he took the pummeling head on.

The only one who didn't see this grin was Gousen himself.

He was too focused on the whole legion of parasites he saw this man to be. "Ah, this is quite refreshing!" the blows he received got lighter, softer. It only took a single action, a grab, to break Gousen's entire attack.

It was a simple grab to the head, but it was enough to temporarily stop Gousen's attacks due to the suddenness of the action. "Since you showed me a good time, I'll return the favour!"

Vito gave him a full on headbutt, sending the muscular wall staggering backwards. The monster took the opening and began to increase the strength of his punches, attacking the other prisoner beater and occasional inmate killer.

Now it was back to how it was before: Gousen taking the brunt of the attacks.

The bald prisoner couldn't do a thing except to try and defend himself with his quirk, shielding himself as the onslaught continued.

"Come on, you're not even making me use enough power to cause any visible power growth!" Vito laughed maniacally to the bald man blocking his attacks. Despite the now stronger punches, Vito's body remained entirely the same. It was nowhere near the point where the power also changed his form.

Gousen could do nothing against the flurry of blows.

The few seconds of increased durability while helpful, couldn't do anything afterwards. The previously mentioned flurry of blows connected against his flesh. Every square inch of his body was hit, the torso more so as blows connected with his face until one last punched sealed the deal, causing Gousen to fall.

As Gousen fell, not a prisoner present moved nor acted. Some watched the onslaught with grins, some watched as if it were just a movie night, some have left, feeling bored or not wanting to get caught up in the fight as others stayed wary in case the other inmate tried to drag them into their madness.

There was one thing for certain though. No one tried to avenge or help the fallen prisoner.

There was no comradery in this prison.

Sure, there were some groups that looked out for their own, like Fumma's small prison group or just two or three prisoners forming a team together. Sure, they might have helped one another now and again, but when it came down to it, with their life or death on the line.

It was just a free-for-all.

Simple as that.

As Gousen laid knocked out on the ground, Vito was already looking for his next victim. " _He's strong,_ " thought Rhys, looking at the downed Gousen as a brief smile appeared on his lips as he looked back at Vito. " _He seems like a good choice._ "

Though those thoughts didn't last long however as Vito stared back at him. Now, at the sudden eye contact, Rhys quickled looked to some of the other prisoners he knew before he pointed at the stronger prisoner. "Attack!" it was a simple command, but the prisoners jumped in like mindless drones, puppets, only to meet a cruel fate as Vito's basic attacks easily tore them to shreds. A simple swing of his arm had managed to slice through them like a hot knife through butter.

A rain of giblets and blood followed rather quickly as Rhys had made his escape, keeping an eye on this powerful prisoner. " _That strength is amazing._ "

Vito removed his fist from the cracked wall, the bloodied form of a prisoner had been crammed into it due to a single punch. "Tch, so weak." The monster had seen Rhys disappear and was about to give chase, before deciding to handle some of the remaining prisoners around him first.

Maybe these ones would give him a worthy challenge?

He doubted it though, but that didn't matter to him though. As long as he was having the time of his life, that's all that mattered.

And it seemed to look that way.

"I hope you won't be as weak as the others," he said, challenging the remaining prisoners. Oh he couldn't wait for another fight so soon. The fight with that bald prisoner was somewhat refreshing, he wished he could have been let out much, much earlier!

Gin however, had no choice in the matter as Vito was already upon him!

" _Looks like I have to use my quirk from the get go._ "

He immediately went onto the defence as he dodged Vito's sudden attack.

Juro, who had been watching, decided to leave before they too were dragged into it. This thought was shared by some of the other remaining prisoners as they took off immediately, seeing how quick this Vito jumped to another target. Some of these prisoners even grinned at Gousen's defeat before running away themselves.

"What a shame, cowards running away." Vito laughed, licking his lips soon after as Gin had dodged some swings. "Don't worry, I _love_ a good chase."

Juro stopped, looking back over their shoulder, a chill went up their spine as Reiji shrunk from where he watched. It was if the mood had changed.

Was this man willing to hunt them all down?

"Where was I?" as soon as Vito had asked, the burning form of Gin whacked him right in the face. What a friendly reminder!

As soon as Vito's attention was back on Gin, Reiji took this time to leave. Being out in the open like this with not many people around was dangerous. Definitely not his ideal situation.

Juro kept their eyes on Vito as he was dealing with Gin. It was now or never. To leave or to stay. Risk being hunted down, or help take him down now. Juro needed to come to a decision soon, before one was made for him.

Gin felt unnerved as he continued to hit the man in front of him, probably because of the man's face. It was yearning for this.

When Vito finally began his counterattack, the smoldering Gin had easily jumped out of the way yet again. It was then that Juro narrowed their eyes, focusing on their target as they activated their quirk, causing Vito to freeze in place.

 _Basilisk: Juro's snake-like eyes when activated can direct killing intent that affects the target at varied levels such as cold sweats or temporary paralysis or even more dangerous effects. Though, they're limited to three people at a time being affected as well as being required to keep their eyes open when using the quirk when using it. Using this quirk is also quite draining on them._

"Shit." a bead of sweat rolled down Juro's face as Gin got caught in their line of sight too. The two fighters, paralyzed in place, stared at each other, both stuck right in the middle of their attacks.

Juro stepped back as Vito looked right at him, as his body shook, trying to fight off the paralysis. They knew that it was only a temporary solution before they began working on removing Gin from their line of sight.

Gin fell forward as soon as his own paralysis wore off and began to burn his body once more. "Drop your quirk. I can't punch him like this." Shinoha demanded, but the yellow slitted eyed Raisa shook their head (as little as they could).

"Just, go get a guard while he's stuck like this."

"Your eyes already look like they're trying not to blink."

"Don't say that, that will make me—" Juro snapped their attention back to Vito. He got distracted.

Vito had moved. It wasn't by much, but he moved.

As Gin's body burned, he turned to face his ally in this fight. "I'm wasting my body away here, drop it."

"I rather not get killed."

"He's just going to break free as soon as you slip up."

Before Juro could respond, Gin had charged in. " _Damn it, Gin._ " It was now a case of keeping the quirk up or dropping it and allowing Gin to fight, but also freeing Vito in the process.

Then again, teamwork wasn't really that common here.

There was always a chance to run away. Gin's body was practically built for fights like these. Juro wouldn't deny that they didn't feel their quirk draining them out. So Juro turned tailed.

They would let Gin handle it.

"About fucking time!" shouted Vito, finally free. A large grin plastered on his face as Gin landed his attacks before the two got back into their brawl. The surrounding area of the fighting got wrecked and ruined. Cracks in the ground, any tables and chairs that were bolted to the ground were bent or smashed. It was a warzone.

As Gin fought Vito, he couldn't help but think about the fight he had with Gousen not that long ago. It was as if Vito was a much more defence monster. Perhaps what he said was true?

Gin's fist clashed with Vito's own, and just like the fight with Gousen, the same hand broke. Shattering to pieces, but it wasn't just the hand this time. Gin's forearm shattered and crumbled completely.

"Ah, smoldering rock, huh?" the singsong tone of his enemy came as a surprise as his remaining wrist was being crushed in a tight hold and with incredible strength, Gin watched as his left arm was ripped off entirely.

Gin, now no longer smoldering as he halted the use of his quirk, just watched as Vito threw it at the escaping Juro. Sadly for Vito, Juro had escaped. "Damn, well, it's time for you to go too."

Vito raised his leg, ready to crush Gin's face in, but a smirk appeared on the armless Gin's face before Vito had a chance to act. "Sorry, I won't give you the satisfaction. I'm already burned out." Reactivating his quirk, Gin burned the remaining of his body as Vito just watched the smoldering man wilter down.

It didn't take long as the orange eyed convict sighed as he looked down at the now pile of dark ash. "Taking the easy way out, huh?"

Vito picked up a large, cindery rock that he pulled out of the dark ash pile. Inspecting it for a while, he threw it behind him.

"Now where did those other guys get to? Eh, I'll find them soon enough." he laughed to himself as he began to walk off, wondering where else he could cause more chaos and have more fun. It was quite the arousing feeling for the ashen blonde.

* * *

As the guards were on their patrol, they were alerted to fighting happening in the male ward, however the alarm was blaring more than usual.

"What's going on?" Hokori held his ears as he followed. This was a much different siren than what he had heard before.

"It's an alarm that only goes off when a really dangerous criminal gets loose, something that is never supposed to happen." the cloning guard, Bunri, frowned. "But that shouldn't be possible. All those prisoners are highly secured."

He came to a screeching halt, grabbing the rails as he looked down to the lowest floor of the male ward. His eyes bulged as he took in the form of the prisoner. "Oh god, no! Not Vito!"

Hokori, who had been following along followed Bunri's gaze. "Vito?" all he saw was just some muscular looking person, but if Bunri was this worried, he must have been bad news. Books and their covers.

"Long story, but just know that he's strong and very dangerous, stay back." Bunri's pale yellow eyes glared at the prisoner. " _Good thing it's just him._ " the cloning guard thought as he began to divide, his clones appearing as they immediately jumped the rail.

Vito was a dangerous prisoner, a monster in every sense of the word. Someone who was driven solely by pure self satisfaction, he followed his own desires, pleasure. Total domination. There was one positive to this and that was that the dangerous prisoner that escaped _was_ Vito. He was thankful that the other more troublesome prisoners hadn't broken out of their confinement, but Vito was still a force to be reckoned with, even alone.

The fox was about to jump the rails too, however he was stopped as he was pulled back. "Just what are you doing?!"

Hokori's ears perked up as he said, "I'm going to apprehend that prisoner."

"No, you're not! You're still wet behind the ears!" the darker skinned guard stood in front as more and more clones went down to halt the prisoner in any way.

"I can help y—" it was then the cloning guard had slapped both hands on the fennec guard's face, making sure they kept eye contact between one another.

"Hokori. If you fight him, you will die!" Bunri shouted, squeezing the newer guard's face together a bit. "If you want to help, go get help! Get the wardens!"

Hokori shivered but managed to nod a tiny bit before he was released. As soon as he was, he turned tail and immediately booked it for the wardens.

"Sorry, Hokori." sighed the clone maker as he created even more clones to slow down the monster that was Vito. "...I hope Seimei or Eris can get here soon."

Bunri then watched as his clones were tossed, smashed and crushed by Vito with ease as he continued to make his way through the prison.

He turned to another clone of his and said, "you lot go around and secure other parts of the prison, make a defensive line and keep an eye out for the other prisoners. In case they think they can get lucky."

With a salute from his clones, they all ran off, leaving Bunri alone as he watched the clones and Vito get out of sight. "Now, where are you heading?"

* * *

Vito grinned as he stomped forward, the clones didn't put up much of a fight, or well, they did well to slow him down a tad.

He had no real goal though and he didn't need one. He was doing the same as always. Whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted! Oh the good old feelings were back.

"Stop—" a clone had called out as they laid on the ground, the lucky sole survivor. A simple stomp to the head caused the clone to dissipate. It gave no satisfaction whatsoever!

What was the point of snuffing out a life like that? There was nothing. Nothing!

What this prisoner needed was one that could bleed. The man scratched his chin as he took in his surroundings. While it had been ages since he had stepped foot outside of that cramped little cell, parts of the prison were just how he remembered it.

He had no idea where to start his ongoing chaos.

"Hm?" Vito had spied another. One that wasn't present when he fought that credit taker. "I'm either lucky or they're all coming to me!" Licking his lips, he already darted forward.

"YOU'RE MINE!" he growled holding his arm out, ready to clothesline the unsuspecting prisoner.

Thanks to the shout however, the inmate was able to dodge the attack, if only by a thread. "What the-!" Jin looked over to his attacker. " _Who the hell?!_ "

Jin was not expecting this random prisoner to attack him. Was he the cause of the alarms? The alarms were blaring and he only saw that cloning guard rush around, even station themselves at different parts of the prison, he just assumed that it was handled.

Apparently not.

Jin had barely any time to react to another one of Vito's attacks. He barely had enough time to create any large crystals! At most, all he was able to do was create small projectile crystals that broke on contact with Vito's skin.

"Is that all you got?" Vito taunted the man on the floor. "Hit me with your strongest!"

Jin watched as he was given space. He concentrated as he formed a larger crystal, it was almost spearlike. "That's much better! Come on, hit me with it!" the hedonist held his arms wide open.

But as Jin went to attack...he stopped.

His arms dropped as a realization hit him. If this spear didn't break on contact with this man. It would kill him.

The floating crystal began to crumble away into a fine brightly coloured dust.

"What?" The man who was so eager just moments before had no idea what was happening. "Why the fuck did you drop it?!"

Jin had no answer for that as he sat there. It was as if he was in another world and all he could hear was screaming echo around his head.

Until he screamed himself as a powerful kick to the head knocked him flat on the floor.

"Pathetic." Vito spat as he glared at the fallen Jin. "What do you call that? Fighting? I fought younger brats who actually wanted to fight stronger than you!"

A sharp pain formed in Jin's stomach. A strong kick had planted itself deep into his stomach, sending him rolling.

Jin was picked up easily, like an old disregarded child's toy ready to be trashed. His eyes focused on the tight fist that Vito held out in front of him. "Take your shame and die, alright."

As soon as the large fist flew through the air, Jin felt pain. The pain was much softer than what he was expecting. He had closed his eyes as soon as the hand moved, but when he opened them, he felt why the pain came from his back as he was now back onto the floor and saw just what had happened.

"Oh?" Vito raised an eyebrow as his punch connected with someone else's face. A man with a buzz cut and beard had taken his hit as they had pushed the already winded and defeated Jin out of the way.

Before Vito had any time to react, this mystery man attacked. "Thanks for the boost." it was a thankful response before the blonde prisoner got a fist slammed into his face which took a rather excited turn.

Jin weakly looked up from where he laid defeated. "...David..."

David Flannegan stood his ground as he sent a glance over his shoulder. "Sorry about that, Jin. I'll be finished soon."

"Man! That punch actually had some actual punch to it!"

David ignored his words, focusing more on this sudden enemy's guard and weak points. " _He's completely open...yet, it radiates danger..._ " he couldn't place his finger on this feeling, perhaps this was the cause of a quirk? Quirk reliance? " _Hopefully it's not a strong quirk. I just need to tank it for now..._ "

 _No Pain No Gain: The more pain David feels, the stronger he gets! Pain into power! The quirk doesn't nullify the feeling of the pain he receives and his body has limits to it!_

David raised his hands into a defensive stance as he stared down the muscular opponent in front of him.

" _Kinda reminds me of those underground matches._ " he briefly smiled at that thought. "Very well, I'll be your opponent."

"Now you're talking my language!"

The two fell into silence right after, both ready to leap into action. One side ready to dash in and enjoy his freedom to the fullest, the other ready for whatever the crazed inmate would do.

The first to make a move was none other than Vito! Starting things off with a fake out, a sucker punch taking David off guard. It was the start of a quick barrage of fists to his solar plexus. Vito's expression morphed from excited, bored and back to curiosity as David regained his footing.

Then it was time for the counter attack.

David returned the favour, his fighting style was definitely more refined in comparison. Four punches to the chest and three to the head as he landed the final punch to put space between the two. A sigh escaped the bearded prisoner's lips as he went back into a defensive position, ready to tank more hits.

"Did your punches get stronger? Were you holding back on me before?" asked the ash blonde, frowning in confusion. "Nah, that's not right. You seemed pretty keen on taking me down..."

A bead of sweat rolled down David's forehead. " _He's tanky...not even that power boost was enough to take him down._ " He needed more power, he just needed to wait for Vito to strike.

He was broken from his thoughts however when he heard cackling. Snapping his attention to the now cackling opponent, he felt a cold shiver down his spine unlike anything before in his life.

"So that's your quirk then?" the sudden grin that appeared on Vito's face was like the cat who just ate the canary. It was like he had discovered a great secret as he bared his fangs. "Now what you said before makes sense! But, I wonder...can you handle this?"

David watched as this man's muscles began to grow, expand. His muscular build was even more bulky than before. The poor American tried to block the incoming attack that suddenly landed without warning. Unlike before, instead of multiple barrages to his body, it was just a simple, singular attack.

It was too much for David to handle as the last image he saw was that of Vito standing much further away than before as he felt the last of his saliva fly out of his mouth as the pain was still trying to settle in before it all went dark for him.

Vito looked down at the defeated American who he had thrashed. "Eh, pretty nice quirk you got there, bucko." Vito's visage twisted into a vicious grin. "Next time, let's see just how much pain you can handle, eh? You just might be my golden ticket for fun."

Unbeknownst to the inmate, a pair of eyes watched his movements. " _Yes, he's definitely strong._ " these thoughts belonged to the criminal that had just escaped when Vito first arrived. Rhys Dignam.

Rhys weighed his options as he watched the looming figure in the distance. " _This could be my only shot for such a powerful brute. He's the best choice!_ "

The convict stepped out silently from their hiding place before charging the muscular prisoner with all his might with an outstretched arm. It seemed to work as he touched the prisoner's back, unnoticed until that very moment. He had never seen a prisoner with such a low guard before. "Become mine!"

 _Pavlov: This quirk allows Rhys to cause pain or pleasure reactions associated with a specific action upon direct contact!_

Rhys grinned as he kept his hand on the other convict as long as he could, but was whacked away.

"Annoying fly." Vito scoffed as he watched Rhys eat the floor.

The Irish prisoner laid on the ground. The hit hurt much more than he thought it would. " _Of course it would,_ " he mentally scolded his rather bold move. He had witnessed what that man was capable of, the ability to be a one man army.

It was quite alluring.

He heard a crack from that same man's neck. "So, what was that? Your quirk?" Rhys couldn't help but notice the curiosity within the man's gaze. The way he cracked those fists together next...he knew what may come.

"Yeah, it's quite slow though."

The man came closer.

"Oh?" a large grin appeared on his face. "And it requires your touch eh?"

It was out of his expectations, he didn't predict this ever happening. The man grabbed hold of his wrist and placed it on his bare chest. "Go on." Vito taunted. "Use that quirk of yours until I can _feel_ it."

The grip on his wrist tightened, a cry of pain almost escaped from the already losing convict, but it came out as a muffled wince, biting into his lips to stop it. The lanky, brown haired prisoner nodded, intensely. Upon doing so, any more future pain halted as the grip loosened.

"Now, go ahead." the poor inmate kept his hand on the man.

Seconds passed as Rhys used his quirk on Vito, who just stayed put for a few minutes, until he frowned. Without saying a word, he placed his foot on Rhys's chest and started to push down.

"AAGH—"

As soon as the scream escaped his lips, a large hand immediately muffled those cries. "Seems your quirk is a bit too slow." Rhys tried to shake his head, trying to call out just what was happening.

As soon as Gousen removed his hand a smidgen, enough for the prisoner to get a word in, Rhys panted out, "it ties itself to a specific action..."

"And what's that?"

"For you..." the man huffed. "Fighting."

Vito stepped back, giving the middle aged man some time to breathe. "Ahaha! That's just perfect." he sent a look back to the fallen two that he had just beaten, mostly that one that David fellow. "What a shame, you should have done it earlier."

Rhys tried to focus on the muscular monster, it was getting blurry. He felt something touch his head before pain suddenly coursed through it. A tight grip!

"If it's fighting, I guess I can count this as fighting, right?" he didn't get too far as he let the lanky convict go. "But, there was a giant I saw earlier." he turned around and low and behold, he was already spying the giant who already began his approach.

" _I really am lucky!_ " smiled Vito.

Kuroishi calmly approached the man, his expression blank as usual.

"You don't seem like the type to come and start a fight." Vito knocked his head back, taking in the giant's tall form as he wondered just what had caused this giant to come to him. Not like he was going to complain about more time and boredom killers.

He got a rather stoic reply from the long-haired man. "You're the type that hunts people down. It would be easier to get this over with now." He stared down at the man causing such panic throughout the male ward.

A laugh echoed all around him, "so you're saying, you'd rather fight for your life now than wait on the slaughtering list? I like that." The amusement in the blonde's tone was a little alarming to any other prisoner. "Say, since you're tall, I wonder if I can knock you over in a single hit?"

"..."

"Don't give me that look. I have been stuck in a cell for years now. YEARS! I need something to lighten things up and while punching, kicking and sometimes killing every passing inmate is fun and all, sometimes you need to spice things up a little, to make it all count! I'll even give you a chance to prepare for the strike."

The giant didn't respond, but he did think it over. While he wanted to end things quickly with Vito, the chance to build his defences up with his quirk was a tempting offer. "Will you hold your side of the deal?"

Vito bowed, "of course! I have nothing to fear." Confidence. It was clear in his tone, the confidence of the strong and unbreakable.

"Fine."

"Great! I'll be David and you'll be Goliath!" It was like a child in a candy store. "Go ahead and prepare, don't keep me waiting too long though, who knows when those party crashers will arrive, so prepare as fast as you can!"

Kuroishi kept his eyes solely on this surprise prisoner. He, much like the others who had been present when Vito arrived, had no idea who this convict was aside from the fact that most of the tales of Gousen attacking prisoners were actually from this guy, with Gousen taking the credit due to this more dangerous inmate being locked up away from the rest of the prisoners.

Thinking about it, it did make sense. There was a lot of fear around Gousen with some of the prisoners and while Kuroishi himself didn't care about it, seeing Gousen in person did live up to _some_ of those claims, but nothing like the exaggerations some others had spewed.

It was clear now that those stories were about the man in front of him and Gousen just fit the bill of those stories. Like hearing about vampires and werewolves from myths and legends only to see people with quirks exactly like that nowadays.

During all of this, Kuroishi did indeed work on preparations all the while Vito threw some punches, perhaps shadowing boxing as he waited before he started stretching his arms once that was done.

Kuroishi wondered if he should even bring out his stronger arsenal, but he was still constricted to a short time limit and from what he had seen from this man, he probably wouldn't have much time anyway. So he decided to keep it short and simple.

Vito however took this time to look around. The other guards haven't arrived yet, it was just that one cloning bastard, but they will arrive soon. He knew all too well. " _Hurry up._ " he inwardly snarled and it was then that his spirits were lifted from what he saw.

Protruding from Kuroishi's body were large bones, wrapping around his torso like a layered ribcage. It left his arms, legs and of course his head open while the bones around his body formed pretty much a breastplate. The giant of nine feet didn't consider any other additions were necessary seeing the battle he had with David and Jin.

"Bones? Huh, didn't expect that from you." Vito gave one final stretch. "Let's see if you can take more pain than that other guy."

As the bone armoured inmate kept his eyes on the muscular man who began to use his own quirk, he had a decision to make. He had watched him fight David and saw that he could grow stronger, so the decision was either: attack now or let him take a swing.

Could Vito even expand further? There was no real way to tell. Vito didn't appear to change all that much, a bit more bulkier than when he fought David for sure, but it seemed more focused elsewhere. The right arm for example.

"LET'S GO!" Screamed Vito as he charged in, though as soon as he did, his eyes widened as he felt a long almost forgotten feeling return to him after all this time.

He still charged forward, unfazed by this sudden feeling growing within his body. " _No. This feeling has been here for a while… It's just catching up to me._ "

Vito landed his right hook on the bone armour, the ribcage breastplate? He had no idea what to call it, it was just an extra layer to break through.

"Ghh-" the normally silent giant gasped lowly in pain as the sound of his armour cracked. This was the first time in a while that he could remember someone being able to break through his armour. Then again, he rarely used it ever since he came to Styx.

As soon as the armour broke, he wondered if he needed more time to create a sufficient barrier that could have taken the blow, but right now, the feeling of pain was the only fresh thing he could keep his mind on.

Vito followed through, wincing as he did. He pushed his fist deeper into the giant's stomach with enough power to lift him off the ground. "Heavy bastard." The bone giant stayed up in the air for less than a second before he landed on the ground right after as Vito grabbed a hold of his own wrist, staring at it. "The fuck is happening with me?"

A groan from Kuroishi regained his attention. "At least you remained conscious." Vito applauded before stomping down on the giant's knee, focusing the same power that was in his arm into his foot.

Instead of Kuroishi reacting to the pain, it was both of them. Both low, almost whispered groans. It was then that Vito realized what was happening as pain started to radiate through his body.

"It's working...it's finally working." Rhys grinned, Vito's actions clearly showed it as he backed off the fallen giant. " _I wonder how much pain you're feeling right now?_ "

Much to Rhys' horror as he watched his quirk finally taking its effect, Vito just grinned happily. "Ah! This feeling! It's been so long!" Drool escaped from his mouth, eyes almost rolling back into his head. "I haven't felt this pain in years!"

The weakened Rhys could barely keep his eyes open. The pain was getting to him as he pushed himself to remain conscious. As his vision darkened, he saw that damn face wrapped up in pleasure, pure ecstasy. Like he had never been so aroused in his life.

"So...gooooooood!" Vito turned back to the lanky prisoner, a twisted expression of pleasure was plastered on his face. "Oh, seems you couldn't keep up huh? I completely forgot about you until your quirk finally kicked in. So, just for giving me such a great feeling again, I'll let you live. I need to taste all this place has to offer, after all. You might be the second person I might keep close to me."

Vito's eyes widened in realization as he stood back up, "ah, that's right. There's a co-ed ward in this place, isn't there?" he gave his arms a bit of a stretch as he made his way to the co-ed area.

As he left, a person had a bead of sweat roll down their face. Reiji stood not too far away, he never expected Rhys of all people to go in and try to attack this monster. It was almost uncharacteristic, unless…

The hidden convict let out the deep breath that he was holding, this was not the time to be thinking about theories right now. He needed to go.

There was a monster on the loose.

* * *

It was supposed to be another day, just like usual. Fights breaking out on the occasion, but not this.

The Yomaura siblings were having their break. Muika having no sessions and Osamu swapping shifts with another guard as he pulled up a chair, laughing at some televised program as his sister struggled with a crossword puzzle.

But now, an alarm that wasn't meant to be heard blarred.

"Wha...what's going on?" Muika's hands covered her ears as the siren was unrelenting. "I never heard this before..."

Her brother, on the other hand, had shot up, rushing to a locker. "It's a siren implemented in case one of the more dangerous prisoners got loose. You were told about it, but since it never went off..." he shook his head, gearing up. He really had to thank Styx's armourers again one day.

The eldest Yomaura sibling glanced towards the younger as they suited up as quickly as he could. There was no real time to waste. "Now isn't the best time to explain," he said, gearing up with pieces of what seemed to be armour over his regular uniform. "It just had to be today of all days..."

"I've...never seen you this...worried." the words had just rolled off her tongue. She didn't mean to say that with that slightly worried tone. Seeing her older brother so worried about this alarm wasn't exactly comforting compared to him being more composed when the regular alarms went off on occasion. Perhaps that itself spoke more about the situation at hand.

Though, it was as if her words never registered with him. "I want you to lock yourself up in here and make sure only a guard is on the other end of the door."

"...What?"

"Going out there is way too dangerous. You need to stay somewhere where it's safe."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, as her older brother was now decked out and ready to take on this prisoner. What he put on top of his guard uniform was more suited to fit a riot officer than a guard, but to see him wear the full set was quite rare. She had only recalled him wearing the gauntlet part of the outfit on regular patrols.

That was expected seeing his condition and while seeing him wear more protection then he wore before was great, but it was also very worrying. Just what was the type of person that caused the alarm to get Osamu all geared up like this?

Sure, he said it was a dangerous one, but how dangerous?

"You can't. Other guards are responding to this one right? Surely they can handle it!"

Fear. That's what he saw in his sister's eyes. If it was a regular prisoner, then sure, they could have handled it, but not this time. Perhaps it was because of this alarm going off for the first time that caused her to panic and stumble her words that he sadly had to ignore.

"I need to go, it's my duty as a guard of Styx."

"Then…then...let me go too," Muika stepped forward, reaching out towards her brother. "I can help!"

The dark purpled haired guard shook his head. "Sorry, Muika, but I can't allow that. We're wasting enough time as it is."

"My quirk can help you!" she gripped her brother's protective vest that he now wore, we'll, she tried to keep a hold on it.

"No, Muika!" It hurt him to say that and he could only wince once she let go, the look in her eyes hurt him. "Muika, I'm sorry, but your quirk isn't suitable for this situation, I'm sorry..."

It hurt him to hear the change of tone. "Just because my quirk isn't the best right now, that doesn't mean it's useless, so please." she pleaded, but he wasn't having it today, for her sake.

"...Muika." Osamu began to push her away. "If it's because of my condition, then please stop. I'm geared up for a reason, so drop it. This is for the good of everyone, so please just do what your older brother says!"

He saw a flurry of emotions roll over the face of his sweet, little sister. Betrayal, anger, sorrow, defeat and the strongest of them all that still remained: fear.

"I...I..." in the corner of her eyes, he could see the small tears form but they never came as her breathing quickened.

"Sis?" he grew worried as she didn't even respond. "Sis?!"

It was then that a white hot flash engulfed her vision as her eyes lit up, shining a lovely bright purple colour as she halted her movements, frozen in place.

 _There stood a prisoner, large and muscular with a grin that was beyond demonic. His body pulsed as a heavily armed guard stood before him._

 _The prisoner rolled his arms, his blazing orange eyes dug into the heavily armoured guard who took up a combat stance._

 _It did not take long for the inmate to dash right at the guard as all faded out back into a white abyss._

Osamu rushed to his sibling's side. "Muika! Are you okay?! What did you see?"

"I...I saw you," she blinked, the brightness of her eyes going back to normal after a few seconds as she blinked rapidly. "I don't know when, but—"

"Shh, calm down sis. We don't want to overwork your quirk."

Despite the situation at hand, she nodded as her brother helped her take a seat.

 _Psychosight: This quirk allows Muika to see a few hours into the future with the last few people she either spoke or came into contact with! However, she is unable to control these premonitions of what she sees or knows when they occur. It's practically random!_

Once his sister was comfortable, he asked again. "What did you see, sis?"

"I... saw you and an inmate, I can't remember who, I don't think I have his profile on hand."

Osamu crossed his arms, eyes closed. "That makes sense. With this type of alarm going off, they're definitely not the type you'd be assigned with."

"There wasn't much else. You seemed pretty ready to fight when he suddenly dashed at you and that was it."

She watched as her brother tapped his chin and nodded. "Okay, change of plans." he said, grabbing her by the wrist. "I need you to go get the wardens, okay?"

Muika slowly nodded.

"Remember, if you see any guards sticking to their patrol—"

"—don't bother them, cause they're keeping the others in line. I know, Osamu. I'm not a child."

Osamu gave his apology as a fresh face passed through his mind. "I hope he's alright." from the corner of his eye, he saw Muika give him a curious look. "Ah, you haven't met him yet, it's the new guy. Now we better get a move on—"

The door flung open as a man dressed in dark blue janitor outfit ran into the room. "Sorry, sorry! Can I lay low here for a while?"

"Perfect timing." Osamu blinked, walking towards the man.

"Eh?"

This man, despite being garbed in typical janitor attire, had a light complexion and a mop of light brown hair that was quite shaggy which covered the upper half of his face, eyes included. It was a miracle that he could even see. His attire did include the logo for Styx and its motto.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but can you please escort Muika to the meeting?"

The janitor was practically shaking as Osamu kept his unblinking gaze on the janitor.

"O...Osamu..."

Ignoring his sister's stutter, he released his hold on the janitor. "I know you're not handled to deal with anything going on, but there is safety in numbers. Please, you won't go empty handed."

"I...I don't need—" before the prison's counsellor could even finish, the janitor slowly nodded.

"Okay, I guess I'll do it. We're not actually fighting right? Just running, right?"

Osamu gave the janitor a big smile, "thank you. I'll leave her in your hands."

Watching her brother leave almost immediately afterwards, the ultra violet haired counsellor turned to the light brown haired janitor. She gripped at her skirt as she tried to find the words to say now that this task was lumped on them with this now awkward feeling situation.

"We...better get going..." said the janitor as he kept his distance. "The faster the better, right?" It was clear to Muika that the janitor didn't really want to go.

Muika felt her useless grip loosen. She had no idea if he was even looking at her due to his choice in hairstyle, but he did start the conversation, so she was thankful for that. "Ah, yes. We should." she nodded, almost not getting the words out entirely. "Um...it might be best to know who you are?"

"Penthus, you?"

"Muika."

* * *

The co-ed ward. The ward where some prisoners from both wards could meet, a ward that was more of a reward and was blocked off to many, many convicts.

A ash blonde muscular man walked up to the wall, near the entrance into the co-ed ward from the male side of the prison. He glanced up and down the wall before he raised a clenched fist.

Sometimes the best way forward was to tunnel right through regardless of any obstacles.

Before he could act, a voice called out.

"Stop right there."

* * *

 **Now we have some trouble brewing, I warned you eh. Sorry for the bit of a delay in this update, but it's here! The next chapter shouldn't take as long as this chapter to come out, but until then!**


	13. Warpath

"Stop right there." A voice called out. Vito turned his head around to see a guard, another one! Finally! About time.

This guard was armoured from head to toe, a much for fitting attire for someone going up against a monster like him. "I was starting to wonder if any other guards were coming or not. Glad to know that there are still some that care about me."

Osamu gave the prisoner a once over. "Inmate Vito, return to your cell. Immediately."

"How about I don't do that? What then, mister guard?"

"Then," Osamu raised his fists, ready to go, "I'll have to bring you in." Normally, Osamu would have tried to talk an inmate down, but Vito was an exception.

A cruel laugh erupted from Vito as it echoed around the ward. "I wouldn't have it any other way! Well then, mister guard! I hope you're better than those clone bastards."

" _So not even Bunri's clones could stop him. I really hope Muika is safe._ "

Vito had turned around at this point, grinning as he rolled his arms. His clothes and general appearance showed that he had been in fights before, yet he didn't look winded in the slightest from those fights. Osamu was really glad that Muika didn't come with him.

It was going to be a difficult fight.

When Vito suddenly charged, Osamu immediately acted. Following on with what his precious little sister saw. Thanks to that, he had landed a clean hit right in Vito's face.

He really needed to thank the armourers for this. Osamu made it a point to do that right after Vito was contained once more.

"Answer me. How did you escape your cell, Vito?" Osamu demanded, dodging a kick from the staggering Vito.

"Maybe, I just broke out? Ever think of that?"

"Impossible, the solitary confinement cells were specifically made so that prisoners like you wouldn't be able to break out."

"You know, when you're left alone with nothing to do. The only thing you can do is to train and exercise. Of course I got stronger than that pathetic, cramped cell!"

" _Damn it,_ " Osamu cursed. That wasn't something that he wanted to hear. There was no choice now but to detain Vito or to provide a distraction until Muika got to the wardens. Though, from the sound of their conversation, only Bunri's clones dealt with him so far, hopefully some more guards were on the way.

What an awful time for Vito to get loose. Right during a meeting when some of the more able guards were preoccupied.

His sister's quirk only saw Vito dashing at him, he didn't have much else to go with now that Vito's first attack was thwarted. He could use Bunri's help with his clones too. " _Hope he's okay too._ "

There was no time to think about such things any longer as Vito charged, baring his teeth. No change in tactics, it was basically a repeat of last time.

Hitting Vito into the ground, the armoured guard stepped back from the downed convict. It wasn't going to be that easy. The hedonist was already back on his feet in only a matter of seconds.

Osamu tensed, Vito was already on the move for another attack. The difference this time was that despite punching the villain, he grinned, uncaring about the hit itself.

"Come on, I need to warm myself back up. Hope you don't mind me holding back a bit." Vito laughed as Osamu found himself on his knees. A sudden strong punch to the gut. "Huh? One punch is enough to take you down? My, how boring."

Hearing a neck crack, Osamu snapped his head up, seeing an outreached arm. "Huh?" Vito blinked as he was pulled forward as a tight pain formed in his now gripped wrist.

With a powerful uppercut, Osamu let the prisoner fly back. This time however, he rushed in, not letting Vito get up as quick as he did before with a strong kick.

Rolling on the floor, Vito rose from the ground as he spat out some dirt. " _Now this is a change._ " He wondered if that lanky bastard's quirk also played a role in it too. Regardless, he charged back into the fray, engaging with the suited up guard, slowly using his quirk since the fight began. " _I'll play with you for a little bit longer._ "

As the brawl continued, it was then that Vito realized something.

It wasn't his strength. It was that suit. Vito just assumed it was for some extra protection, like that bone guy he fought before. That suit wasn't just for protection, it was to help deal out damage!

Osamu's riot-looking armour was made specifically for him. In fact, it was made with him in mind. A real made-to-order type of equipment, it even sported the same hero grade material used by most hero support companies. A perk of Styx some might say.

"Oi, oi. Don't tell me you don't have a combat quirk." Vito's grin flickered briefly. "You can at least use your quirk for combat, right?"

The only reply he got was silence.

"Fine then, keep your quirk to yourself!" he yelled, rushing forward, leaving a nice compact crater where he stood. His arm bolstered with a surge of extra muscle beneath the skin.

What came next was a simple swipe. One might even call it a lariat with how he just swung it.

Though his movements were sloppy, like he wasn't even trying. The armoured guard didn't even have trouble dodging the powerful swing. The sloppy swings that followed would be rather pathetic if it wasn't for Vito at least packing power behind each swing.

The older Yomaura sibling couldn't help but feel like Vito was trying to force a quirk out of him. It didn't really make sense, he expected the ash blonde man to try harder if that was the case.

" _Maybe, he's looking down on me?_ " he thought, easily punching Vito's face in as he did. If that was the cause of his sloppy movements then, " _he's gonna make it more manageable for us to restrain him._ "

It was then that Osamu noticed something in his favour. Vito's form was slimming down. It was now or never.

Osamu formed a fist, as tight as he could. The suit's gauntlets clung to his hand as the guard felt it vibrate. Not even waiting, he quickly planted his fist into Vito's exposed face.

Then Vito went flying into the prison's wall.

"Gah! Fuckin' hell!" he couldn't even hold a grin as he winced at the sudden pain. Seems like things were piling up. "It would have been nice if it was your quirk or your own strength though." a sliver of blood escaped his lips. In its escape from the monster's body, its freedom didn't last long as the tongue came in and swiped it back up.

A darkened look overtook the slightly growing muscular man. "And I think that's why I'm so pissed off instead. Using shit like that to compensate." Osamu raised his guard, something felt off. "You have no real strength of your own...and for that...I'm not going to play around like I did before."

" _So he was looking down on me!_ " He thought it was too easy when it came to knocking the inmate down.

He wasn't even taken seriously...only being played with.

Walking over to a bolted down table, Vito gripped the metal leg and with a powerful yank, ripped the table out of the ground, like he was pulling a weed out from his garden.

With great speed, Vito wielded the table like it was a flyswatter. Benting it over and over again as he tried to smack his current annoying fly down.

And it only got faster.

It was only a matter of time.

" _He—_ " Osamu was smacked with the makeshift flyswatter. It sent the poor guard flying.

Osamu slammed into the wall, his protective layer of armour protecting him from the impact. "Urgh." By the time he looked up, as quickly as he could, Vito was already upon him.

Vito slammed himself down, standing right above him as he raised his arms, high into the air.

The only thing Osamu could do was block.

Or try to.

And down came the barrage of blows, trying to get past the outer shell to reach all the punchable flesh underneath.

Soon, the punches slowed down as Vito stood up. Sweat rolled down the side of his neck as he did. He had to give it to that armour, it took quite a beating and still looked like he didn't punch it that much. Man, technology progressed a lot since he was locked up.

Cracking his neck again, he wandered over towards the wall he was looking at before. "Now, let's see if we can do this uninterrupted this time."

The hedonistic inmate powered himself up as he started to pummel the wall as hard as he could at his current level. As soon as the wall took some sufficient visible damage, the orange eyed inmate stopped and turned to Osamu. A nasty grin flickered onto his face as he did.

Picking Osamu up, he slammed him into the wall with all his might. Thankfully, for Osamu, his armour was able to protect him from any further harm, but that didn't stop the wall from crumbling down from the new, sudden impact.

"Hello world!"

* * *

Muika ran as fast as she could with Penthus towards wherever the wardens were having their meeting. Osamu had briefly told her before where they were holding it, hopefully she would make it in time.

"Hey, who's that?" the janitor beside her pointed out to a running guard with large fox-like ears.

"I...think that's the new guard." She had never met the new guard, but she was informed of him. The fox ears were one detail that made it easy to recognize him.

That and the fact that once they were getting closer to each other, the more she had no idea who that was from memory.

Now that she could see his face clearly, he was definitely worried.

"Hey! Hey!" Hokori pulled up, panting. "There's trouble, I need to find the wardens."

"Huh, the same as us." the janitor scratched his neck.

"Um, I saw some guards, not even reacting to the alarm, some did, but the others were still walking around like they couldn't hear it." the pale newbie sweated as he looked back from where he had just come from.

"This...is my first time with this sort of alarm going off. My brother said that, uh, some guards remain in their position to keep an eye on the other prisoners in case they revolt too." Muika revealed, at least from what she was told. Of course, the guards lept into action but there needed to be guards keeping an eye on some other prisoners too.

"O...oh."

"I heard that some of the female inmates were riled up lately." Penthus added. "Probably a good idea to spread out some numbers here and there in case of more prison riots or fights, but aren't we falling behind?"

"That's right! We need to get to the wardens!" Once again, the new guard panicked and it wasn't helping a thing.

"Calm...calm down." Muika gave her attempts to try and calm the newbie and right now, she was the one with the most responsibility among the trio right now. Taking a minute to collect herself, followed by a deep breath, "it's...it's okay."

She tried to sound confident and thinking about the situation her brother put himself in, she needed to be convincing too, "I know where the wardens are and we're going to them right now. You need to remain calm."

"...okay." That seemed to do it. It took some time of course, but it worked.

"Just...just follow my lead."

The trio now ran towards where the meeting was taking place after quickly introducing themselves (even if it was only their first names), it was more so that Penthus and Hokori were following Muika's directions (or rather her brother's directions) to find the wardens.

"So, why are the warden's holding a meeting anyway?" Hokori asked as the janitor perked up before joining in.

"Yeah, I would assume that they heard the alarm, right?"

Muika however shook her head. "If they heard it, they would have dealt with it by now. I...I don't know the exact details of this meeting, but from the way my brother talked about it, it... sounded serious."

"Your brother?"

Muika jumped a tad at the fox's question as he had gotten closer. "Oh, ah you might have met him. Osamu."

"Oh! He's really nice!" smiled the fennec fox. "Really, really nice."

"Hey uh, focus please?" the janitor clapped, getting their attention.

The two stopped their little conversation as they kept up their pace. "Sorry," the two apologized in sync.

When their footsteps filled the silence, Muika decided to use this opportunity to learn more about the situation. "So... who is this inmate that caused this sort of alarm in the first place?"

"Some guy named Vito," the janitor answered. "There's—"

"Bunri mentioned the same name!" Hokori's ears perked up. "He didn't mention more than that though..."

The prison's counselor turned to face the janitor as they all turned a corner. "You know this inmate?"

The light browned haired worker just shook his head. "No, I don't really know anything asides from his name and that he is one of the inmates stuck in solitary confinement. You'd be better asking one of the guards that patrol there more often than just me."

"Any information helps." Muika tried to give a reassuring smile. She wasn't nearly as good as her brother in that regard though.

Penthus' lips only managed to twitch a little at the attempt. "As a janitor, I know next to nothing. The only thing I do is clean the wards during the night when most prisoners are locked away in their cells. The guard's barracks, kitchens and that during the day." he sighed, running his hand through his hair, briefly showing a red eye. "The stuff I know about Vito is from the rotating guards there when I'm cleaning the hallways. Just conversation when we're bored, really."

Hokori hummed. "I'm not so sure myself, but from Bunri's reaction, he did seem strong. Strong enough to inform the wardens."

The young woman returned her attention to the goal at hand. All they needed to do was inform the wardens about what was going on, then everything would go back to normal.

However, preventing them from going any further was the rookie guard as his large fox ears perked up as he immediately crouched, ready to pounce. "Someone's coming."

Running in their direction was a small group of convicts. It wasn't much, just a small group of four, but Muika immediately glanced towards the newbie if only for a second. She could hear a low, quiet growl.

The cogs in the prisoners' head turned slowly once they saw the trio, immediately thinking that they had a shot at this lot. The first sign of hostility shown from the approaching prisoner was met with a quick strike from the newbie.

 _Fennec Fox: A pretty self explanatory quirk, it basically allows Hokori to do anything a fennec fox can do as well as grant him physical traits of a fennec fox as well as enhanced senses._

"We don't have time to deal with you." the fast little fox knocked an orange jumpsuit wearing criminal down with ease.

Penthus almost thought that one of the other prisoners was going to attack both Muika and him, but that never came thanks to the fox's quick agility.

"We...we need to help him." Muika stuttered out, keeping her eyes on the convicts as she stood slightly behind him. They didn't have time to be held up by inmates.

"And how do we do that? I can't fight."

Feeling his strong gaze, Muika felt incredibly small. "Neither do I...but I— my quirk can't help, but I don't—"

He kept his gaze on the woman as she couldn't find the right words to say, the situation wasn't exactly the best right now as any words that came out of her mouth wheezed into nothingness, like the words itself never existed in the first place.

He was going to regret this, especially when it came to cleaning up.

Looking back at the fighting, Penthus rolled his head around, tearing his vision away from the nearby exit. "This is going to make my job harder, but..." From his hands, a clear substance secreted from his hands. Placing both sticky hands onto the ground, the small area around the prisoners soon coated the ground in waves. "Move, Hokori!"

 _Gel: This quirk allows Penthus to secrete transparent, clear sticky liquid from hands. He can send waves of gel to cover a small area of the ground from his hands or simply touch something to place a glob of it down as this gel is very sticky and anything or anyone stuck in it can be stuck for a good while._

"What the?" one of the inmates struggled to move, their legs covered in the transparent slime.

"Can't...move!" struggled another who was flat on his back. On the plus side, Hokori did manage to jump out of the way thanks to Penthus's warning.

Once the prisoners were easily restrained, the fox jumped up, almost tackling the janitor. "Thanks, Penthus!" the young fennec fox clung onto the janitor, who wiped his hands off with a handkerchief while trying to pry the fox off.

"Your quirk really helped out there and saved us time." Muika bowed, at least to show her thanks for his efforts. Doing something that Osamu never promised that he had to do.

Though, there was a second reason for her bow. " _Great job, Muika. You really helped them out, huh?_ " That caused her to wince a little.

What could she do to help? See a random future that might not even be what they needed now?

She didn't like it.

"Thanks, but uh, I hate it," the janitor crossed his arms, looking back at the secreted gel.

Muika looked back up, briefly seeing a red eye among the mob of brown hair that hid it. "Why?"

"For starters, cleaning it is a pain!"

Ah.

"Will we be okay with them stuck there?" she moved the topic, getting a confident nod in return.

"Don't worry, they'll be stuck for a good while. A friend got stuck in it once, took us a while to get him out."

Before Muika could even think of replying, Hokori grabbed both of their wrists. "Let's go. Wardens. Now!"

"We are wasting more time here." Penthus agreed as he was dragged enough to get moving. Muika had to agree. Osamu was out there fighting after all.

She really hoped that he was okay.

Silence once more overtook the conversation.

"Are we close to the wardens, though?" the fox asked, wiping some sweat away the more they travelled.

"I think so..." Muika took in her surroundings, looking for any indication or sign. " _Real assuring, Muika._ "

Thankfully, it seemed fate was on their side as Penthus popped into the conversation. "Is that it?"

Snapping back to reality, the younger Yomaura sibling saw the door to where the sudden meeting was taking place. "Y...Yes! It is!"

The trio stopped in their tracks as they came up to the said meeting room door.

In front of the large double doors leading into the meeting room, was a woman decked out in the same green military guard outfit as most other guards. She had light skin and soft brown eyes which were almost doll-like in the way she looked at them. Her blonde hair with brown roots dropped down around her shoulders as she stopped playing with the hat in her hands.

This was Kikazaru Sarugaku, another member of the Sanzaru within Styx, much like Mizaru.

Hokori ran forward, not even hearing Muika calling out to him to wait. "We need to see the wardens! There's a problem!"

Kikazaru however, just blinked at him.

"We got a serious situation going on!" Hokori rushed his words, his tone increasing a little as some words sounded more like yips.

Confused, Kikazaru just smiled. She tried following his lips, but it was just a mess of yips. With a wave of her hands, she gestured for him to both slow and calm down.

"This isn't—" A hand appeared on the new guard's shoulder, before anything else could happen.

"Please...calm down, she's deaf." Muika then gave a small wave to Kikazaru, who waved back.

The fox's ears slumped down. "Oh...sorry."

"She can read lips, but you were probably going too fast. I'm also not the best at sign language either, but—"

Penthus coughed, getting their attention. "I know a bit of sign language. Might be better for you to do it though."

Muika turned back to the deaf guard and tried her best, thankfully, Kika had already understood and had already stepped aside, letting them in and in they went. Kika spun the hat in her hand as she narrowed her eyes in the direction they came from.

"You're not coming?" Hokori asked the janitor, noticing that he had stayed behind.

"Nah, I was only asked to escort her here. Plus, I don't think a simple janitor's presence would be the best."

"Then...what are you going to do?"

Penthus scratched the back of his neck. "Gonna go hide for a while until things blow over. See ya!"

As they watched the janitor run off, they immediately ran inside to see the wardens. The moment Muika and Hokori stepped inside, the alarms stopped entirely.

"No wonder they didn't hear the alarm." Muika mumbled while Hokori just continued to look surprised.

Walking forward, they entered another room and there they were.

Sitting around a big table were indeed the wardens along with some other guards. Seimei and Eris were definitely the heads at the table here as around them sat some familiar and unfamiliar guards.

Tai was one of the guards sitting at one of the far ends and next to him sat Alexios. Across from them was Dahlia, Yukiko and the butler-like guard, Shimaru. Mizaru sat nearby Tai with a black cloth covering his eyes and next to him was another guard.

The guard next to Mizaru had his arms crossed, decked out in the same regular garb with the only extra addition was that of a black, lower face mask, covering from his nose down. His spiky brown hair was quite messy while his sharp brown eyes seemed to be constantly glaring.

Another guard present at this meeting was a one garbed in the general attire, not much change or accessories were added to it. His hat was positioned in a way that hid his eyes while his mint green hair draped his shoulders in a wavy way. His feet were firmly on the desk as he leaned back, holding a bottle gourd by the rope that was tied around it.

The other guard was a short woman with smooth chin-length soft grey hair with a pair of lively, bright blue eyes. Her uniform was grey in colour and was shorter than most other guards, having shorts rather than the long pants and her jacket having no sleeves. This was mostly because of her body. Instead of having arms and legs, she has a pair of grey feathered bird wings replacing her arms and a pair of bird-like legs complete with talons. She did lack a hat though.

She seemed very lively as she just smiled at whatever they were talking about.

And that was it in terms of people who came to the rather on the spot meeting.

While there were no seats in between Eris and Seimei, there were two empty seats on the opposite side of them. Muika noticed that a few other seats were empty too.

The meeting was really sudden and Muika had no idea what it was for, but seeing how little people were in this meeting, she could only wonder what sparked it.

"Muika? Hokori?" asked the eyepatched warden as she looked up to see the two guards, which broke Muika out of her thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

Before Muika could even get a word out, Hokori immediately shouted, "Some prisoner called Vito is out of his cell!"

It was then that all eyes present (save one) were glued onto them.

The single action caused Muika (and Hokori) to shrink under the powerful gazes.

And then, one of the wardens stood.

* * *

"So... that's what you're saying?" Yua glanced over to the information broker.

"Has my info ever been wrong before?" Ashita asked back as the two sat comfortably in the co-ed ward, a coy smile appearing on her face as she did. It was a small but prideful one.

"No." Yua had to admit, Ashita's information was quite accurate, especially when it came to people who just arrived at Styx. No wonder she was a skilled info broker. "And you made the connections with Chie's quirk?"

Ashita nodded, folding her hands together. "Well, yes." she paused, letting that fact settle in. "But, I was aware of that other quirk before Chie started causing a ruckus, but it was the effect that made me realize it was being used then. Koneko being an example of that quirk's involvement in terms of how fast Chie's quirk acted back then."

The stoic woman just looked at her, not breaking eye contact. If it was someone else, they might have gotten slightly uncomfortable with her gaze. "Why didn't you bring it up back then?" Yua asked unblinkingly. "Surely, it would have been important to bring it up there."

Ashita tapped the table, "it would have caused a problem."

"How so?"

"Since its a quirk, it involves that person to be at the scene of the irritation." she smiled and Yua already knew what would happen.

"And that brings us back to what you said when we got here."

"Exactly."

The oleander haired woman crossed her arms, thinking over what she had heard. "Then what will you do?" her tone was still the same as it had always been.

Ashita leaned back in the chair, as much as she could anyway. "Hard to really say, it's mostly used subconsciously, but there's no doubt that it was also used consciously in that scenario." She ran her hand through her dyed white hair, making the messy bob cut even more so as the brown streaks zigzagged and waved because of it. "There's also no real benefit in it for me to mention either."

Yua just sat calmly while she listened. " _If she brings it up, then it might ruin a group._ " Yua closed her eyes, thinking about what she was told. "You mentioned that it was used consciously in that scenario unlike the subconscious uses, correct? I suggest that you at least keep that in mind to inform the others at some point."

She moved some of her hair behind her ear as she continued, "from what you told me about this quirk, that might be the best option. Even if it's mainly used subconsciously, you are the only person who knows the most about it _and_ its user. So—"

"So keep in mind to tell them if something happens." Ashita shot Yua a playful grin. "Whether consciously or subconsciously. It can cause a problem for people. Anyways, thanks for hearing me out."

The info broker then began to tap her heel on the table. " _Knowing what I know, it would be better if it just stayed subconscious, but even then, that would be a problem down the line. Guess I'll gotta inform the others if it goes too far._ "

"You're welcome, Ashita."

"So what are you two talking about?" Fushiko popped up suddenly like a whack-a-mole at the end of the table. She did pout when neither of them even reacted or jumped by her sudden intrusion. Not too far behind her was Chikuha and Inyoku, who seemed to have a few bandages wrapped around him. Those two seemed to be having some conversation, but Yua wasn't really interested in that.

"Nothing much," Ashita shrugged with a smile. "Boring stuff, really."

The woman with the short, black flared bob just stuck her tongue out. "Then you should talk about something fun!"

"Oh? Like what?"

Fushiko grinned, placing her hands on Yua's stoic face, her purple and black pinky finger forcing one side of her mouth upwards along with the other side. A faux smile lasted for only a second. "That, but without hands—ouch!"

"Don't do that."

Ashita couldn't help but chuckle, which only caused the poor bubbly inmate to pout. "Ashitaaaa! You gotta tell me what will make her crack!"

"Sadly—"

Their conversation was interrupted as their attention glanced over to a wall that practically exploded. Eyes drifted over to Chikuha.

"Hey, that wasn't me! Stop giving me those looks damnit!"

"...There's a person there..." Yua informed as they glanced back to the hole in the wall.

"Hello world!" An ash blonde monster greeted the world as he took his first step into the co-ed ward.

Most of the co-ed prisoners couldn't help but just stare at the intruder. He jumped a bit as he glanced around, the ward. "I guess this is the fabled co-ed ward, huh?" he mused, kicking a downed man.

They watched as an armoured up guard roll along the ground, coming to a halt on some broken rubble.

"Who the fuck is that?" they heard Chikuha in the background right before Inyoku shot up.

"Does it matter? He looks strong! I'm gonna fight him!" Bless his heart, he tried.

Ignoring those two, they focused on the man that had bursted into the ward as he scratched his chin. "Definitely a better looking ward, that's for sure." his eyes wandered over the occupants. "Huh, not what I expected, how long has it been?"

Fushiko kept her smile, bouncing away from the table. "Guess we better skedaddle!"

Vito sighed. "So much for this ward having a lot of people. Beggars can't be choosers though. Five should be enough."

He dashed in, closing his eyes as he reached out. His hand grasping around one of the prisoners he dashed towards. Lifting them into the air, he opened his eyes to see a white haired woman as a look of fear flashed before her eyes.

"Seems like my luck chose you." No time was wasted when he held onto her tightly, she even flailed about! But, before he could act any further, someone else touched him.

"Drop her. Now." with her hand on his arm, Yua Aoi was (stoically) staring the man down.

"And what if I don't?"

"You'll regret it."

It took a second until he realized what she meant, right as she was smacked away. His other arm was itching like hell. What did she do? A quick inspection of his arm showed a small part of his arm was red as well as a small little cut, probably when he had just smacked her away. He then caught a glimpse of that girl he had picked up.

Ashita glared the surprise convict dead in the eye, right as she placed her hand on his wrist. Vito raised an eyebrow at this before pain surged.

"Agh! Fuck!" releasing the info broker, he immediately grasped his burning wrist.

Ashita dropped, only to be caught (and not long after, dragged away) by Fushiko. "Let's get a move on, buddy!" Ashita appreciated the warm smile before Fushiko led them away from the violence.

"Right!"

The pain slowly resided as Vito clutched his wrist. Removing his hand revealed the number forty-seven which had been burned into his wrist. Confusion swelled in his mind as he paid little attention to the two who fled.

He will eventually catch up to them sooner or later.

"Now that everyone's fucked off, it's time to end this with a bang!" That explosive tone caught him off guard as he could feel the saliva build up in his mouth.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw a young woman with light bluish-green hair, grinning as she held some rubble from where he had entered. One foot was on top of the knocked out armoured guard, it was hard to tell if she was doing it on purpose or not.

Suddenly the rubble went flying. It was nothing that he couldn't handle. It was kinda similar to that crystal guy's quirk, despite hitting him, he felt nothing.

So why was she grinning like she won?

"Bang!"

Complete with finger gun, Vito was engulfed in sudden multiple explosions that erupted around him.

He managed to pick up some rubble to throw back, but that too blew up in his face. Keeping his eyes closed, he honed in on the laughter.

Then he charged.

"Ugh!"

"Got ya!" Slamming her into the wall, Vito opened his eyes as she set another explosion off, point blank.

Both of them could only see smoke, but the forty-seven branded inmate continued to push into the wall, before he jumped back, in case of any other explosions that might have gone off.

The smoke from the explosions settled not too long after as Chikuha laid on the concrete as sweat rolled down Vito's face.

Taking a second to breathe now that the bomber girl was dealt with at the moment, he felt something touch his leg. A quick response removed Yua from the scene for a second time.

As he whacked the flower haired woman away again, his leg was begging to be scratched. Though now that he got some thinking room, he swore that there was one other inmate that he could remember.

That very same inmate charged next, ignoring the fact that he was still wounded from Mulhall's attacks. "You seem to be strong. Let's fight!"

Watching the others fight this man got him pumped! Now this was a battle he was dying to get in on! His legs were a little shaky, but nothing that slowed him down too much.

" _While you'll be able to move, don't push yourself. Just don't get into any fights or you'll risk injuring yourself further._ " The memory of Carna reminded him when he was stuck in the infirmary. Fuck that. He wasn't going to let this battle slip through his fingers!

"Hahahaha! I like you kid!" Vito couldn't help but smile at the rattlesnake's desire to fight. It gave him a nostalgic feeling.

As Inyoku jumped in, clawing at the large man, the same large man simply dodged each swing the bandaged prisoner threw out. It gave him a good look at the younger convict's face.

It held the same desire he did.

Was this a match made under the heavens? Did Fate itself bring these two together? Vito had no clue, but whatever it was. The gap between them was too big.

He had to applaud his tenacity though.

So he decided to reward that with an attack of his own. To his surprise however, the rattlesnake was quite agile. Agile enough to dodge his blows before he sharp pains grew all over his body.

The brat landed some attacks. Scratches mostly. As he scratched his itchy arm, he spat some extra saliva onto the concrete below. " _How would he be if he wasn't injured?_ " That was a thought for another time, however.

"Hm? Why did you stop? Come on, let's go!"

Vito only laughed.

"Just for you kid, I'll give you the time of your life!" stomping on the ground, he gave Inyoku a glimpse at his strength. His muscles underneath bulked up right before he went in on his next attack.

It was something shared by the snake as well. They had silently challenged each other to a show of strength using nothing but their fists.

As Inyoku's punch landed against the muscular blonde's own. He could feel nothing but delayed pain. A scream of agony escaped soon after, causing the short inmate to cradle his arm.

Vito had won that contest of pure strength.

Yet Inyoku still managed to smile and after the pain subsided somewhat, he looked up to see Vito sharing a smile. "You're one messed up brat. I like that."

As Inyoku stood, the cradled arm was now limp as it dangled by his side. "Good, 'cause I'm not done yet."

It was like music to Vito's ears.

He tried to attack the younger convict, yet he found it much more difficult to move. " _That lanky bastard never said anything about this._ "

Looking at his arm, he noticed that something was sticking to him. It was incredibly faint but still quite noticeable once he looked at it. Following the trail of what appeared to be ghostly strings, he quickly found the source. Someone else had arrived.

When he looked at the third party presence, there stood a young man with dark purple, slicked back hair. Reiji Maeda.

Sweat rolled down Reiji's face as he wondered why he did such a stupid thing. He was already cursing himself for joining in with all this chaos going on.

He was perfectly content with just avoiding this all together, letting all his fellow inmates (and the guards) deal with this problem. But now, for some reason, he got himself involved and worse of all, noticed.

The young man had convinced himself that he would help a little. Do what he usually did. Use his quirk unnoticed and get the fuck out of there before they caught wind. Staying down low all the while.

He shook like a leaf under Vito's intense gaze. It practically told him that he was next. " _Stupid Reiji, making yourself a target!_ "

Yet he let out a tiny sigh of relief when Vito turned his attention back at the snake. Though, he did wonder if he should just book it now while he had the chance, but at the same time, Vito was a combination of things he didn't like.

Safe to say that he feared this cocky and powerful inmate who was re-establishing the prisoner hierarchy. Maybe that's why he chose to even use his quirk on him.

 _Puppet: Reiji can launch ethereal strings from his fingertips and if they connect with another person, he can control them like a puppet! Though, he can only control one person at a time, requiring him to disconnect and relaunch them at another target and when puppeteering someone, he cannot move a part of his body when moving one of theirs until the action is completed. Despite controlling another person, he can allow them to move normally but he cannot activate or deactivate their quirks._

As he pulled Vito's arm back as soon as he saw the bastard move. He couldn't help but feel like he was reeling in a giant fish that didn't take too kindly to the hook it caught itself on.

Reiji watched on in horror as someone resisted his strings with pure physical strength alone. " _Or maybe, it's his quirk?_ " He had witnessed Vito's quirk a few times and that was a lot of muscles.

As Vito managed to take a swing at Inyoku, he pulled the hedonist's leg. It wasn't much, but at least it caused him to miss.

It was time to retreat.

Detaching his strings, he got ready to leg it as he watched Inyoku smack Vito's head with his tail. " _What are you doing?! Can't you see that you're outclassed! Look at your arm!_ " Reiji, kept that to himself though as he watched.

He never felt as nervous watching a prison brawl before. Maybe because _he_ was next in line for the pummeling. Yet he watched as Inyoku fought on, even with his either broken or dislocated arm.

The green eyed inmate watched both of them attack each other. Both lost in their own little world. It was like watching two animals fighting!

Granted, one of them did have snake features.

"Oi! I'm not fucking down yet!" Chikuha's snarl echoed through the co-ed ward as she grabbed pieces of broken rubble. "Yua! Let's fuck this shitstain up!"

Yua however just adjusted her pearl bracelet and her off the shoulders dyed jumpsuit. "You're seriously not suggesting to rush in without a plan?"

"Of course! That's what battles are! Why? Do you have a plan?"

"Obviously."

Chikuha just stuck her tongue at her. "Well, too bad! I'm going in!"

" _How can you guys still fight that thing?_ " Watching the battle unfold, he was completely flabbergasted at their ability to continue. " _You guys are losing! Trying again isn't going to change anything..._ "

It was then he had to cover his eyes as an explosion went off. All the while Vito's laughter grated against his ears. "HAHAHA! YES! THAT'S IT! ALL AT ONCE!"

All Reiji could mutter was, "god damn it."

* * *

Elsewhere in the prison, a prisoner had their face slammed into a concrete wall. "Don't just go attacking him in a single file!" shouted a random inmate. "Group tactics!"

"Fuck you." said another, before he too was suddenly hit and slammed onto the ground.

Bunri frowned as he readjusted his hat. "Seems like you inmates forgot what it means to follow procedure."

The dividing guard hated this, he had hoped that it wouldn't have happened, but no! These inmates just had to try and take advantage of the situation and see if it could help them escape somehow among other ridiculous reasons. Seriously, what were they thinking? He had no idea what went on in their heads.

They were also wasting his time too. With a prisoner like Vito on the loose, he couldn't spare to waste time with riff raff.

Once again, he was thankful that it was only Vito and not one of the more troublesome convicts instead. While strong, incredibly so, Vito was easier to handle when restraining him...the others, they were a bit more difficult, some more than others. Maybe because of that, he was willing to let his comrades and coworkers deal with the inmate for now while he cleaned up here.

As a prisoner rushed him, one of his clones pinned them to the ground. "You guys really did it now."

"Ah shit. I thought he was tuckered out!" that same prisoner who had opened his mouth just got a clone's elbow straight to his gut. "Agh!"

"Come on, this won't take long." the guard taunted, taking out another.

"Shit," one of the convicts looked around, noticing that their numbers were dwindling. There weren't that many clones, but soon the small group would be overrun by the guard's clones.

If there was one thing to regret, it was this moment right here.

As the prisoners were tossed and thrown around like ragdolls, one of the knocked down criminals held the aching pain that pounded on their forehead as the fresh smell of blood slowly poured down their face, eventually allowing them to taste the iron of their own blood.

Briefly flipping themselves over, they managed to get a grip on a door, hoisting themselves back onto their legs, even if it was a bit shaky. As he took some time to regain his bearings, he heard a slight movement behind the door.

"Wha?" An idea quickly formed as he grabbed hold of the door, noticing the slight dent due to some of the harder skinned inmates being tossed about. "Come on…!"

Forcing their quirk into action, they managed to extend their fingers somewhat longer than before to get a much better grip. It was then that the door had managed to creak a little.

It was a little too late before Bunri actually noticed what was going on. He saw one of the bloody prisoners he had whacked sense into opening a cell door as soon as he heard a metallic creaking noise.

"Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty!" grinned the prisoner, managing to pry open the cell door as their blood dripped onto the floor as they spied a tossing and turning sleeping inmate.

Tired eyes cracked open, frustrated, but that didn't last long. The prisoner's nose got to work, sniffing up a storm before the inmate leaped into action.

"Ha! Now you're done for—" the prisoner didn't have time to taunt the guard as he was taken down, the prisoner from the dark cell sunk their teeth into the poor sod's neck.

The bleeding prisoner, down on the floor, struggling to get the sudden attacker off him couldn't even muster an ounce of strength to save himself before he went limp.

Blood dripped down the red eyed yardbird's mouth as they finally let go of the victim's neck. The tips of his short black hair dyed in the blood of the fallen prisoner.

"What the fuck?!" another prisoner fumbled back. "You bastard!"

Bunri silently cursed as one prisoner tried to take him out. He needed to stop that prisoner from drinking any more blood, so he slammed his elbow into that criminal's neck.

"Be a good inmate and stay down."

That sleeping inmate, Rin, licked his lips as he jumped over towards another bloodbag of a human, faster than what they had expected him too. Once more, fresh blood painted the grey concrete floors.

It was during this time that the prisoners that weren't knocked out or being attacked by Rin fled. Sadly for a few of them, they never made it far as clones knocked them out. All the while Rin's tongue explored the insides of his fellow prisoners exposed neck, drinking in all that crimson liquid like it was the world's best honey.

 _Vampirism: Rin's quirk allows him to consume other people's blood in order to make himself stronger, faster and more durable for a period of time depending on how much blood he has consumed. It also makes him stronger during the night or in dark places while growing weaker during the day or in well lit places._

Bunri kept his eyes on the arm bound vampire, sending a quick glance to the lights as he threw a prisoner he knocked out to the side like trash. He noticed the prisoner crouch back down, just an inch away from drinking even more blood.

"Gyeh!" Rin's head went flying backwards. Like hell Bunri was going to let him drink any more blood. The clone who had kicked the vampire away grinned as the vampire flailed around like a turtle on its back.

The clone immediately dissipated once the vampire quickly got back onto his feet, attacking the clone at the first chance he could.

"Rin Yonaga, return to your cell. Now."

The vampire-quirked man just tilted his head over towards the original's direction. A large bloodstained smile greeted the guard in return, their gaze seemingly in their own world.

Bunri got into position as Rin fell to his knees, bending down to the one bleeding prisoner he was trying to drink from again.

The black haired man was denied once more. This time, the original Bunri kicked him away from the inmate as a clone grabbed the prisoner from behind.

"We've done this before, Rin. Return to your cell."

"Let me drink!" The vampire flailed in the clone's hold. He did manage to break free of his hold and immediately darted right towards Bunri's neck.

Nothing a punch couldn't solve.

"Seems I need to teach you a lesson again, Rin."

Maybe this time it'll stick.

* * *

Something was off. Fumma knew that much.

While most parts of the male ward seemed to be fairly standard, some of the other inmates had cheeky grins. Of course, when they crossed his path they immediately dropped it.

It didn't take him long after that to figure out what had happened. Multiple prisoners sprawled across the ground, some that he knew fairly well. One of which was Jin.

Fumma found himself hurrying over towards the 'trial' member of his crew. "Jin?" he crouched near the downed (and hopefully) future underling. "What happened here?"

Weakly, Jin opened his eyes. "Some prisoner, never seen him before," he coughed a few times as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Focus."

Jin only pointed in the direction he had walked off. At least, what he could remember. "Ash blonde, muscular guy. He—"

"I'll deal with this." Fumma stood, immediately heading in the direction Jin pointed in. He might not have been one of his own, not yet at least, but he was responsible for him. Even if it was just a simple 'trial' period. The man with jade hair heard Jin say something, but he was too far away now and he wasn't going to stop and hear about it now. He needed to be somewhere.

A nice angry smile overtook his features the further away he got.

...

Elsewhere, Akita was on her bed in the warm comfort of her cell. The plain, beige coloured blanket wrapped around her as a little bead of sweat rolled down her face before it was wiped away.

The long dark haired woman gazed in the direction of her cell's only exit. Someone was on the other side. "May I come in?" Hearing the familiar voice, the top dog sat up, reaching for her jacket.

"Give me a minute." she told the person on the other side.

Picking up the discarded jacket on the ground, she hurriedly put it back on as she glanced towards the now open cell door.

A figure stood in the doorway, a familiar face to match the voice. "Yeah?" one of her underlings, the woman with the broadcasting quirk.

She did say a minute, but she didn't think it would be taken literally.

"Something happened." the woman said in between breaths. That explained it.

Akita crossed her arms as she sat on her cell's bed. "What happened?"

And so, all was told.

* * *

"COME AND ATTACK ME! ALL AT ONCE!" The boisterous tone of Vito challenged his targets. He had easily dealt with the sudden attack from the kariginu wearing snake as his back was suddenly hit with many small explosions.

Though, when he glanced in the direction of the flower woman, she was keeping her damn distance. Despite all the chaos, she was still calm! It was like none of this phased her! It kinda pissed him off.

"At least look at the people who are trying to fight you!" Inyoku's shouting made him snap right into the sudden knee that landed in his chin.

The snake jumped back, just as a piece of debris entered his field of vision. Which meant one thing.

"HAHAHA! Take that you bastard!" Chikuha held a rock or with her quirk, ammo. Glancing around, it seemed she was running low on some of the smaller bits of concrete.

All the while, Yua just watched from the side. Enough for her to be in range of the muscular blonde yet away from the others.

Granted, she had to deactivate her quirk whenever Inyoku rushed in. It was...difficult working with people who didn't care about planning ahead. She would have prefered it if they had at least formed a plan with her.

"Tch," scowling, Vito rushed at the closest person he could punch. For him, that was Inyoku. To the snake, Vito came suddenly out of some smoke left by the debris' explosion.

Inyoku watched as his dislocated arm raised itself into the air, his hand clutching itself into a tight fist. The punch that followed was quite hard as it sent Vito staggering back.

Confused, Inyoku glanced back to see Reiji standing a far distance away as an ethereal string connected them.

The short silver-white haired inmate grinned from ear to ear. Now this was something he got behind. "Let's keep going!" Once more, he dashed into the fray.

Among all the chaos however, Vito couldn't help but enjoy himself.

Sure, he itched and had to spit out saliva now and then, but this was what he signed up for!

He swung at Inyoku, a powerful punch...if it connected. Inyoku, who had been on the attack too, was somehow able to dodge the attack without coming to a halt. It would have been impossible.

That left one conclusion. " _That cowardly puppeteer._ "

It only took one look in their direction to both confirm it _and_ terrify that very puppeteer. Heh.

Vito's head was knocked back with a kick soon after. Grabbing a hold of the snake's tail, he swung him around for a bit before throwing him away. The snake moving in a way that caused him to land like a cat thanks to those strings.

However, nearby in the debris, a figure was slowly coming to. "Ugh..."

The rubble from the broken wall shifted as an armoured figure weakly got to their feet. " _You guys..._ " It took him a while to even stand without having to wince.

" _Everything's so blurry. I'm not going to be able to stay up like this._ " So he decided to at least give the inmates a hand before he passed out.

His gauntlets vibrated. He took a single step as pain surged throughout the suited up guard. " _No use..._ " Holding a continually vibrating arm, he picked up some debris from the broken wall. One of the larger pieces.

His arm continued to shake right before he fired off that piece of broken concrete.

" _It'll probably do nothing...but I hope it helps..._ " Osamu crashed into the cracked ground.

The piece of large debris flew through the air. "Behind you." Yua called out, causing Vito to embrace the flying debris, face first.

While it did nothing to Vito, compared to all the other attacks, it did create an opening. Inyoku bore his fangs as he bit into the branded convict's arm.

Pain seared through his arm as he smacked the snake away, he glanced in the direction of the puppeteer who pulled the snake to safety and back down to his bitten arm, ignoring the taunts from that bomber woman. And then...

For the second time in his life. He fell to his knees.


	14. Incarnation of Evil

For the second time in his life, Vito fell to his knees.

" _Huh? What's happening?_ " He, Vito, was forced down to his knees?! He wasn't someone who could be defeated so easily, but he did want to throw up. " _Seems that it's all piling up now..._ " The poison, the continuous surges of pain, the constant battles up to now.

He couldn't help but show his wonderful smile to the world! How he longed for this feeling. It had been so fleeting and rare in the past.

When was the last time he was forced down on his knees like this? So long ago, like a distant memory.

 _What was strength?_

 _Was it something that came from the heart? Strong heart of courage that allows one to continue forward? Was it instead strength of mind? Rational thought, common sense and general intelligence to formulate strategies and plans?_

 _No. At least not to Vito. Vito's own personal brand of strength was the basic. Pure physical strength. The power to crush and withstand. To take and give. It was a brutish way of thinking, a simple yet effective mindset for one such as him._

 _Yet, his strength that he held was unrivalled. Uncontested._

 _It made things boring. Yet, the title of strongest eluded his grasp, just like all the rest. The title of the strongest was not a permanent title. Just a title that was passed on whenever someone stronger appeared._

 _And it all started at a young age._

 _It was all due to being born lucky. Being born with a strong quirk. The day he was born, he was blessed with a simple yet powerful quirk. He took pride in his quirk, it made him strong after all._

 _A shame it all went to his head and created a troublesome child._

 _As he grew, he was told that his quirk was a basic, but a strong one. "You'll be strong, Vito." were the encouraging words he received. "With a quirk like that, you'd be a great hero. That's if, if you want to be one. Your quirk is super strong!"_

 _But was he strong as they said he was?_

 _That was something for him to test and confirm for himself._

 _He got into multiple fights, both inside and outside of school. Little twelve year old Vito didn't care about who he fought, as long as it was to prove that he was the dominant one._

 _A boy the same age as him, known as a model student in intellect and physical skill? Beaten down into the dirt. No challenge whatsoever. So much for a future wannabe hero._

 _A girl in the same class as him who chose to run when confronted by him? Smashed her into a locker, uncaring of the blood that poured from her body._

 _A teacher that tried to stop him? He remained unscathed as the teacher lost both of his legs that day, the damage caused was irreversible._

 _His reign of terror didn't last long at the school when he was expelled. His parent's didn't take too kindly to that._

" _Vito! What the hell is wrong with you?!" his mother shouted with tears in her eyes. "Where did we go wrong?"_

" _Get out of our house, young man!" his father demanded. "We didn't raise a monster! We didn't raise you to hurt people!"_

 _"You said I was strong! So I proved it!"_

 _His father grabbed him by the collar of his shirt as his mother, teary eyed, went to grab a phone. "That doesn't make it right to hurt another person, especially hospitalising them! You're going to stay with your-"_

 _Both continued to shout at him, trying to drag him out of the house as piles of clothes sat in an unzipped suitcase. Shouting things like "you were a mistake," or "you ruined our reputation!" as he tried to defend himself as being the strongest, though those shouts were rare among the sea of how he disappointed them, those were the ones that stuck the most._

 _Despite their increasing profanity as they continued, keeping a strong hold on the child until he was picked up, Vito ended it all with a chuckle. "I see...so you're just like those weaklings too."_

 _He raised a hand against his parents, his quirk making him_ _unstoppable as his fists dug deep into his parents' skulls, unaware of the sudden grabs as he easily overpowered them. One watched the other suffer, before they too suffered the same fate. Their child, the sweet little boy that they raised turned into this monster, leaving a fist shaped dent in their faces. Grabbing their arms, their legs (like his teacher) and treating it like a pretzel. Twisting and turning as they snapped like twigs in his enlarged hands._

 _And all through that, they heard their child laugh as their blood covered his face. It was the last they had ever heard._

 _If his parent's didn't see him as strong, it was only natural for him to prove his strength. No matter who it needed to be proved to._

 _That was the last the neighbourhood heard of the child named Vito._

 _Little did Venice know at that time, it had a monster growing at a rapid rate._

 _Since then, Vito roamed the streets of Venice, keeping to the back alleys as he jumped out, attacking anyone he thought that could give him a challenge, entertainment or just for a want of a good old fight._

 _The child had grown after his expulsion. The school bully was now a teenager, he joined many backstreet brawls. His opponents didn't matter, a random youth that also fought or a punk from some street gang that wanted to prove their worth. In the end, Vito stood tall over all, no matter who the challenger was._

 _He was simply too strong for these punks. So he decided to attack dojos. Raiding them, tanking through their techniques as he demolished both the students and the masters._

 _Thanks to both these events, Vito's reputation grew._

 _The schoolyard bully, the backstreet brawler, the dojo raider. All titles he required as he proved himself to be the strongest._

" _Why are you doing this?" coughed the aged master, coughing on the ground, protecting the student behind them._

 _Vito's grin was terrifying. "Because I'm strong."_

 _The title of the strongest. A perfect title for one such as him. It was like that the title of strongest existed for him and him only. Yet, it was a title passed from one to another, so easily. Whether that be by succession via combat, inheritance through passing, judgement from others. Not to mention each place had its own strongest._

 _The person who held the title of strongest in Japan could be outclassed by a person who held the title of strongest in Korea and so on and so on. There was no real way to determine the strongest. The strongest might go unnoticed, there might be multiple contenders, they might not have been born yet or have just passed away._

 _Not to mention the definition of strength could be classified differently._

 _The strongest physically, the strongest emotionally, the strongest will, and so on. Heroes, villains, civilians. Past, present, future. Who knows who the real strongest person in the world was!_

 _There was also another reason. Villains rarely inherited those titles. Heroes sure, but a villain? They needed to make an impact on the world as a villain or before their villainy to gain a title like that._

 _Because of that, the title of strongest was a worthless title._

 _A title that would escape his grasp._

 _It fit Vito well, even if he knew it was a bullshit goal. He was strong and he was going to prove it! "Watch me world, witness my power!"_

 _So he continued. Continued his assault on men and women. Even children if he thought that had a shot._

 _This of course, attracted more attention from both the law and heroes. Even the occasional vigilante! These low ranking heroes thought they could get an easy rank boost by taking him out, but they found themselves tossed and toyed with like the weaklings they were._

 _The law couldn't keep up with him and the vigilantes that attacked fell before his dominating strength like lambs to the slaughter, even those that he himself spawned!_

 _He was no longer a young dumb teenager. No no. Now he was a man._

" _Stop right there Vito!" some vigilante dropped from the roof, her eyes glaring daggers into the bastard. "I've been looking for you for years!"_

 _The now thirty-five year old Vito yawned. "Oh? And you are?"_

 _As he observed her, he could tell that she had been run ragged. She looked to be a complete mess, the only thing keeping her going was that dangerous look in her eye. It was if everything was thrown away, even the life that would have been in those had been replaced by the cold, dead glare. Which meant one thing to him._

 _Revenge._

" _My daughter, you hurt my daughter." the woman roared. If looks could kill, Vito might as well be dead ten times over._

" _And she was...?"_

 _The vigilante's face turned red as she barked, "YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER?!"_

 _Vito gave a reassuring laugh. "I don't remember every mosquito I swat! Haha, give me some hints, okay? Get my memory jogging."_

 _Furious, she stepped closer. "You attacked her in the hallway back in middle school, she was found lying IN broken lockers."_

 _Realization flashed through Vito, now it all made sense! "Oh! Her! She was kinda cute, weak, but cute."_

 _His words only sparked more anger in the vigilante._

" _Did you know what you did to her? What every day of her life was like?! Every day for her was living in fear in case you came at her again! Scared of her own shadow. Every single day, she felt nothing but pain! Pain and fear for years YOU FUCKING MONSTER!"_

 _Vito whistled, a glint appearing in his orange eyes. "Damn, and she survived all this time? I thought she died after that. Man, I better pay her a visit then!"_

" _Don't bother. She's been dead for the past ten years. Every single day until the day she died was one full of never ending pain and fear. She suffered every second. Do you even know what that was like?! No...of course not." a knife flashed into the woman's hands, her hands gripping it tightly. "DIE VITO!"_

 _Vito yawned as he swung his arm. A bored, disappointed look appearing in his eyes. "That's a shame. I thought she was strong there for a second."_

 _The mother's head had effortlessly been smacked off, it offered no resistance whatsoever as it went flying through the air, smashing through some nearby shop's window as the body fell to the ground, blood painting the pavement a nice shade of red._

" _How boring..." yawned Vito as he walked on, leaving the now dead mother in the empty street._

 _Definitely wasn't the first person that sought him out for revenge._

 _The older Vito grew, the more he realized that he might have been too strong. He rarely had to use his quirk during fights anymore._

 _But he kept fighting regardless. He kept accepting and declaring challengers. He kept raising the body count._

 _He was a known monster to the people of Venice, having one of the highest prices on his head in years. Tourism plummeted because of him, even Venice's famous Canal Quirk Aqua Circuit races were cancelled because of his sheer presence._

 _He quickly became known as the Monster of Venice._

 _You might be asking: why does he still continue to fight people despite him winning time after time? Is he just searching for the stronger foes at this point to give him a challenge as he holds back?_

 _Well…_

 _The reason for so many fights now?_

 _He liked hitting people. There was no other reason. He never started a fight over being pissed at another person, he fought because he liked hitting the other person, hurting the other person. The power of dominance, the allure of power. A show of strength!_

 _Men, women and children. None could stand against his strength! They all fell before him like the weaklings they were._

 _He enjoyed every minute of it._

 _It grew of course, the reasoning that is, but at the base of it all... Vito just loved to hurt people. It was one of the greatest pleasures after his own pain that he longed for nowadays. Sure, he wanted to prove himself as the strongest there was, but it all started with the enjoyment of hitting another living person._

 _Nothing could stand in Vito's way. Everyone was just too weak for him, after all he was strong. Strength Incarnate. No matter who fought him, he won in the end. It was almost boring._

 _So of course, he limited himself. Held back each and every fight, only showing more of his true strength when a slightly stronger opponent appeared._

 _It was a shame that they were all still too weak._

 _None were able to bring out his full power._

" _Is there even a challenge out there?" a bored Vito thought as he stood tall among his fallen foes._

 _For the longest time, Vito never had a challenge. No one was able to beat him, there was no satisfaction anymore._

 _...At least those were his thoughts before HE showed up._

 _Vito could still remember the moment he met him. Clear as day. It was an ordinary day for him._

 _The streets empty, hiding from Italy's Monster. Only one person stood out to the muscular villain that day. "So you're the Monster of Venice? I didn't think my home would have such a weak looking villain."_

" _Ho ho, those are some fighting words, you shitty looking hero." Vito grinned, showing off his pearly whites. No ordinary person would wear such an eye-catching outfit like that out in public unless they were a hero. "You came 'cause you wanted to go a round, right? I do hope you'll be able to last longer than those other weaklings."_

 _The hero only smiled as Vito charged._

 _As Vito charged, he soon realized that he had gotten himself into a pickle as he had been sent flying into the plaza's fountainhead._

 _So he got up and tried again and again. No matter how he attacked, the hero kept dancing around him as he sent him into the dirt with little to no effort._

" _Is that all the Monster of Venice has to offer? Shame."_

" _SHUT UP!" Vito roared as he jumped back up. His quirk increased his size and power. "You're the only one who has been able to keep up with my base form. You get to witness my quirk!"_

 _The end result was the same._

 _No matter what, Vito found himself…_

 _...losing._

 _No matter how much power he used, the hero was always a tier above him. Another stage, another level. An obvious gap between the two._

" _You might as well go all out if you want to defeat me."_

 _Even at his full strength, Vito couldn't even land a scratch on the hero. It pissed him off._

 _He couldn't accept this!_

" _How am I losing?" thought the orange eyed villain as he laid in the dirt. "I'm the strongest in all of Venice. No, all of Italy!"_

 _Vito kept up his assault, but so did the hero. Punches, kicks, headbutts. Anything Vito threw was useless as the hero packed a mean punch of his own._

 _It was then that it finally registered to the brute. This was the first time in his life that someone had forced him down on his knees in combat. The first time someone had treated him like the way he treated his victims, and as the hero attacked Vito from all angles…_

 _...the first time he had ever lost a fight._

 _Pain erupted through his body, despite going all out with his quirk. He was toyed with, made a fool of, beaten down into the dirt._

" _How does it feel? To be made a mockery? I wonder, was this how the people you harmed and killed for your own amusement felt? Just how many innocent lives have you destroyed for this pathetic display? How many families have you ruined?"_

 _Despite the hero's cold tone, Vito kept struggling the best he could. Right until he lost the ability to even move an inch as the ground broke beneath him._

" _How...did I lose?" the weak and defeated Vito asked._

 _The hero only had one response. "It's simple. I'm stronger than you."_

 _That would have made the Monster of Venice smirk if it wasn't for the fact that he was in complete, total pain._

" _Who the fuck... are you?" a weak Vito asked, using the rest of his strength to look up at the smiling hero._

" _Just the 34th ranked hero in all of Italy. No one that important."_

 _Vito couldn't believe it. He lost to a hero that wasn't even in the top ten?!_

 _THIS WAS NOT HAPPENING!_

 _IT COULDN'T! IMPOSSIBLE!_

 _Did that mean there were heroes stronger than this guy?! No way, impossible. It just had to be that this guy was his natural counter, that was it! Rank meant nothing when it came to the strengths of heroes, a higher ranked hero in Italy wasn't strong but had a great service record of cases solved and social contribution. So this guy was just on the rise, that had to be it. A new guy aiming for the top._

 _That face said it all. The smile that eased into a slightly smirk, the fact that he looked younger than he did, perhaps in his early twenties. A star that was only just rising. He refused to believe that someone who held that rank had it for a good while was able to beat him so effortlessly! Unless he was unpopular or didn't contribute much to society._

 _That or it was to get a rise out of him. Get him worked up over the fact that he wasn't in the top ten to make him feel even more defeated. It worked if that was the case. Surely he couldn't be defeated this easily!_

 _It wasn't because he was weak. It had to be due to some other reason. Yes, that's it. This hero was prepared for him, this seemingly countering hero was his Achilles heel!_

 _...but...wasn't this what he yearned for? A challenge? A foe he could go all out against?_

" _I don't know how long you'll be locked away for, but I don't think we'll meet again...so..." A powerful kick turned the whole world dark for Vito._

 _Swarms of police cars and armoured vans arrived at the scene, rushing the unconscious form of Vito as various drugs were injected into his body._

 _By the time he awakened, his trial was already over. He woke up with just enough time to be shipped off to some high security prison across the sea._

 _It was only after he was detained that the sore loser smiled fondly._

 _He wanted to fight that bastard again. A shame the drugs kept him from moving, otherwise he would have escaped and began searching for the bastard then and there._

 _The one thing he had been searching for during his journey to display his strength, a foe that he could go all out against for once. He wasted it. He wasted the feeling of an all out brawl and now, he slowly began to regret it. He knew he would._

 _To him, it was a once in a lifetime occurrence. What were the chances of meeting someone like them again?_

 _It was then that the nearby doors opened, revealing a man in a suit._

" _You'll be going to jail for a long time. Kiss your freedom goodbye, Vito." the man from the trial (he presumed) told him as he was checked over, making sure he was secured so he couldn't break free as a pair of officers began to take him onto a boat or plane, whatever it was that was going to be used to transport him. "Tell me, how does it feel to lose everything? It's horrible, right? Because I bloody hope so. They should have just executed you, but I hope you have the worst time of your life within that prison."_

 _The lonely villain, his body limp from the amount of drugs pumped into his body, now carried out of the small dark police van as he was about to be shipped off, showed that man his pearly whites, no— his honed fangs._

 _Because even in defeat, Vito grinned._

" _Prison...that means stronger people are in there, right? I can't wait!"_

 _He never once registered the terrified looks of those around him. He couldn't wait to get even stronger._

" _Quick! Attack hi_ m while he's down!" a distant voice had snapped him back into reality.

" _Is this it? It's over? But...I haven't had my fill yet...it's too soon!_ " regaining his senses, the prisoner rose from his position, the others were already on the attack. " _I'M NOT DONE YET! I DON'T WANT MY FUN TO END!_ "

Vito disliked going all out. It made things too easy, fights would be over before he even got invested. Why waste his full strength on ants that couldn't take it? It was too boring to go all in.

He always fought at the weakest he could be, increasing his power the more promising the opponents that appeared before him proved. It was the only way that gave him a challenge (most of the time).

There was barely anyone who was able to stand against him.

" _Maybe I can go all out again?_ " It was a foolish thought. No. Despite his current predicament, his full strength was still a game ender in his mind.

But, as some twisted reward for his entertainment, he decided that it was time to use his quirk some more.

A sudden roar bellowed from the criminal, halting any attackers as Vito grew. The even more muscular wall of a man got back onto his two feet, standing taller than before.

The man still continued to sweat, his vision being somewhat blurry, yet he still attacked. Far from done. The now taller, thicker and overly muscular man vanished from where he stood with a great burst of speed.

Reiji had no time to defend himself, as he found himself flying backwards right into a wall, quirk deactivating as he fell face first into the cracked ground immediately after. "One." Vito grinned, turning his back to the snake, bomber and flower.

If only Inyoku didn't charge in. "Two." Vito muttered as the force of his impact sent the already damaged snake into the ground with little effort.

"Agh!"

Before Vito could do anything else, someone else had arrived.

"So you're the guy who attacked my underling?" Vito turned to see a man walk in through the hole he made in the wall. This man with jade coloured hair and a black coat had immediately shot him a glare. "To think it was you of all people."

"Finally. Someone who knows of me. Guess I had a fanbase after all!" Vito's annoying laugh seemed to taunt him. "Now, now. Don't give me that flimsy excuse of a glare!"

" _Seems he's only just holding on..._ "

Just then, a new voice made itself known. "How dare you try to touch _my girls!_ "

" _Great..._ " Fumma frowned as Akita made herself known, stomping forward.

"I don't like it when people try to damage what's _mine_!" She blinked once she noticed Fumma. "You're here too?"

"Tch."

Many might think: Do these two know each other?

The answer to that question was: no.

These two were separated by wards, but they've heard of each other. There were always prisoners that were put on higher pedestals or followed, these same prisoners gaining a reputation, being called things like Top Dog.

This was mostly by those who followed those people who managed to get called Top Dogs.

Many prisoners were labelled as Top Dogs, many others didn't care about some worthless title. These two were just two prisoners that managed to get the same worthless title of Top Dog of their respective wards.

But sometimes, people don't like sharing the same title with another.

"We're not your god damn property you psycho," Chikuha gave Akita a nice big middle finger. Seems she was ignored, however.

"Just stay out of my way. This guy is on his last legs, anyway." Fumma groaned.

"Who the fuck is this guy, anyway?"

The coat wearing man just sent Akita a look. "He's name is Vito. A real pain in the ass. That's all you need to know."

"Real cautious, aren't ya?" Just then, Akita strolled right on past him.

"Tch."

"Oi! That's my fight! I'm not done yet!" hissed the snake inmate. Man, if looks could kill.

Fumma didn't even spare a glance to the rattlesnake. "You're still conscious? Amazing, but shut up now, you're pissi— actually, no. Keep talking."

Meanwhile, Vito just stood there as he spat his saliva on the ground. His breathing, while not quite back to normal, was a little better than before.

"A pair of bloody vultures coming in for the kill steal, that's what you fuckers remind me of. VERY WELL! I'M ALWAYS UP FOR A CHALLENGE!"

Vito then watched as dark green sparks of electricity surged around Fumma's black coat.

Why? Because Fumma made the first move!

The sleeves on Fumma's coat seemed to disappear as the coat fluttered in an imaginary wind. Vito could swear it was shifting, molding itself.

"What the hell?" Now that Vito got a better look at the coat, it was actually attached to his shoulder blades. " _So that's a quirk, huh?_ "

The coat had fully morphed, now bearing the head of a demonic looking serpent!

It mimicked a roar as it shot towards the prisoner, fangs open ready to chomp down.

 _Jörmungandr: Fumma's quirk generates a living beast, incapable of intelligent thought, originating from Fumma's shoulder blades. Through sheer force of will, Fumma bends the destructive force of Jörmungandr to his will to control it as well as bend, stretch and harden it. When damaged, Jörmgundar can drink Fumma's blood in order to repair itself, however when stretching or hardening it becomes more fragile, causing it to drink more blood from Fumma unless it bares its fangs into someone else, opening up its options. Because of Fumma's experience in stretching Jörmungandr, it mostly takes the form of a black coat for easy access to its true form, that of a demon headed serpent._

A quick punch from Vito caused the serpent to take it head on, coiling around the large arm and biting right into the inmate's shoulder.

"Heh! Like a mosquito!" the ash blonde convict sneered, punching the serpent's head.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that other woman, the one with the guard jacket. So he threw a punch right to her face! Yet as he punched Akita, he watched his fist sail right on through her as she landed a kick to his chest, making him stumble over the broken table he used from earlier.

 _Intangibility: Akita's quirk allows her and by extension, anything she touches, to turn intangible. Though it can only last five seconds. With this short time limit, she can phase through floors and walls depending on how thick or thin they are with it being much harder to pass through thicker obstacles. She is also still bound to gravity and when intangible, can only go down until she stops on the ground with it being too dense and thick to phase through._

"Fuuck!" The Monster of Venice seethed, right as Akita jumped away. As he stumbled over, he quickly shifted his attention.

Vito had managed to squeeze the neck of the serpent hard enough to force the unintelligent beast to let go.

The world was just the same as before to Vito, just now with the additional pain of the recent kick, the arm which that serpent clamped onto and the tingling feeling in his other arm.

" _Not yet you stupid bag of flesh. We're not done yet!_ " He gripped his leg as hard as he could, digging his nails into his skin until he drew blood. "LET'S FUCKING GO!"

Now, as Vito was distracted by the two 'vultures' as he called them, Chikuha was juggling a single piece of the broken concrete as she sat to the side.

"Welp. He's their problem now." She sent a look towards Yua, who also stood back. "What about you? Gonna join in?"

"No."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Yua kept her arms crossed, not even sparing her a glance. "I cannot work with any of them."

The timebomb user grinned. "Same. I can't stand either of them."

" _It wouldn't be so bad if everyone could follow a plan._ " came the thoughts of Yua, watching the shitshow unfold.

Chikuha stretched, keeping her attention on the fight in case things went south. She had the opportunity to leave, but at the same time...

"Guess we get to watch the show for now."

As Chikuha turned her attention back to the chaos, she focused on Fumma's serpent as it bore its fangs once more, ready to attack.

He wasn't the only one.

Akita had been standing back, using hit and run tactics with her quirk. Arms crossed with an overly smug smirk as she taunted the hulking man. It sort of pissed Fumma off.

They both went in on the attack, yet no matter what they did...Vito proved to be a sturdy wall.

" _I knew Vito was tough, but to be able to stand this strongly on his last legs like this? Outside of my own expectations._ " Fumma wiped the sweat of his face, trying his best to ignore the pain. " _He would have been a great yakuza...if he even possessed the ability to be both loyal and follow orders._ "

"You bloody vultures better not think that this is your stolen victory lap!" the large form of Vito stomped on the ground, slipping into something that could have been described as a somewhat decent fighting style.

"Just fall already you bastard!" screamed Akita as she rushed in.

As Vito made no effort to move, his eyes widened as that serpent, Jörmungandr, phased through the stomach of the guard jacket wearing inmate.

"Hey! Watch it next time! You're lucky that I saw your snake lunge behind me."

Akita was promptly ignored as she jumped out of the way.

Now that Jörmungandr was in front of him, jaws right open ready to chow down...he acted.

It was fast, but he thrusted his fist down the serpent's open jaw. Of course, this allowed Jörmungandr to bite down on the arm, but Vito swung his arm past behind him.

And Fumma, left the ground.

Destination of his flight? Right into the warm embrace that was Vito.

" _Jörmungandr's stuck!_ " Right at that moment, Vito decided to introduce his fist to his face, and down the so-called top dog of the male ward fell. If his underlings could see him now.

Yet, the serpent was still stuck, its fangs piercing Vito. Looking a little paler, Vito grabbed hold of the serpent's head as he yanked his arm right out, keeping a tight, squeezing grip on Fumma's quirk.

Once more, he pulled the serpent to the side and watched Fumma follow.

During all this, Vito only had one thing on his mind, " _Is there no one I can go all out against?_ " Maybe he was too hasty? Maybe he should try? Give it a shot and see what happens?

As he debated, his body moved. It was like it was on autopilot. A direct, full contact blow had hit Fumma, a traditional reverse punch!

Fumma paled, just a little, not a single drop of blood left his body from the strong impact. " _This bastard knows karate?!_ "

As Fumma's quirk tried to bite its target, Fumma himself braced for another hit when suddenly…

"Did you really forget about me, big guy?"

Out of the corner of Vito's eye, Akita sprang into action. Vito barely had time to react as she ran up his arm as quickly as she did.

With careful timing and a finger reaching out, Akita drove it forward, right as it phased through Vito's eye.

It only took a second for Vito to see a different shade of red and black as the roars of pain filled the co-ed ward. Vito thrashed as he held his hand over his eye, releasing Fumma's Jörmungandr.

The same couldn't be said for Akita as a large fist smashed her into the ground before Vito fell down onto his knee, trying to minimize the pain of his now lost eye.

"Finally, some real damage on the bastard." Fumma huffed as his quirk circled around him.

Meanwhile, a certain onlooker wasn't too thrilled. "Hey! That was my fight! You better fight me next!" As Inyoku continued to hiss, Chikuha whistled.

"They got a decent hit in."

"It was only a matter of time for them to get a hit like that in." the stoic Yua informed. "All the fights he had been in weakened him down to that point. His body is probably fuel of toxins working him down and that attack to his eye was the result of that."

The bomber slouched, gripping onto the piece of the broken wall she was messing with. "I wonder, you think a single explosion will knock them all out?"

Yua didn't respond that time, but Inyoku struggled to his feet. "Don't bother, I'm going to beat all of them!"

"Calm down you bloody rattlesnake!" She chucked the rock, causing the injured kariginu wearing inmate to lose his footing.

As he fell, she blinked. "Wait, Yua...do you hear that?"

Yua raised an eyebrow as she tuned out the roars of that Vito guy. "I can't hear anything— wait...I hear, growling."

The growling got louder and louder. The louder it got, the more fierce it sounded. Until, at that very moment, a jackal headed woman entered the ward, homing in on the now cycloptic Vito.

She didn't waste any time as she charged the kneeling prisoner. It was just a matter of taking out the biggest threat.

Her first course of action was to take advantage of the kneeling position of the larger form of Vito. A simple clothesline smashed him into the ground.

"Great, now that fucking bitch is here." Akita huffed, clenching her fist way too tightly. "Just who else is going to show up?"

"Like you're one to talk!" shouted both Chikuha and Inyoku.

Normally, Shi would just turn her attention to the other inmates and put them back in their place. Right now, there was a much bigger threat in front of them.

A bigger threat that was still able to move.

"Man, what a great guy! He can still fight!" In rushed the battle hungry snake, ignoring his wounds as Vito rose from the ground ever so slowly.

No words were needed after Inyoku ran forward, ready to rip into the already rising Vito. Fumma's serpent charged in as Styx's guard dog already got to work on taking the growing giant down as a rain of exploding rocks and pebbles filled the room.

"This better not backfire on me," groaned Chikuha as her bombs rained down.

Some might say that this was a coordinated attack, one which Yua would be pleased with, however this wasn't the case.

It was simply a coincidence that they all attacked Vito simultaneously. It was more accurate to say that this group attack was done out of their own survival instincts.

Vito was surrounded, attacked by so many people. Yet, despite it all he grinned ever so slightly as he kept his now ruined eye tightly shut.

"Fighting...is so damn fun."

Vito staggered backwards from all the attacks, all the punches and kicks, bites and scratches, the explosions and the pain that already dwelled within his body, growing more and more intense.

"...this is the best...I don't want this to ever end..."

Vito...had fallen to the ground...

...and he laid there defeated.

* * *

Sae was caught off guard when Shi had approached her, of all people.

" _Inmate Kumiza, I would like to have a word with you."_

That was how it started. Short and simple, Shi's style.

 _Unlike the cold attitude she showed towards her fellow inmates, she had quietly followed the guard until they sat together in private._

" _What's this about?" she asked, wondering what the prison's guard dog was up to if she needed to talk to her._

" _You, along with some other prisoners, were recommended to be the most trustworthy." Even though they were talking, Sae felt that Shi could snap at her at any time. "That's why I sought you out."_

 _Sae had to blink, this was probably the most she had ever heard the jackal even speak. Usually it was just silence with the occasional grunt, growl or even just a short sentence._

 _And she kept going!_

" _While you are hostile to other prisoners, you keep in line and follow through with what we ask of you. In short, you have all the qualifications for the co-ed ward."_

" _I am aware."_

 _The guard scoffed. "But that's not why I'm here."_

 _The emerald eyed prisoner raised an eyebrow. "Then...what?"_

" _You, and two other trustworthy convicts, are going to help us out with a little problem. You might have heard of a recent prison murder happening last night."_

 _Sae didn't respond immediately but it didn't take much to assume what the jackal headed guard was saying, "so...you're saying that you guys are relying on criminals to help with whatever? Like finding the killer?"_

 _As soon as the words left her lips, Cerberus was already on her. Snarling up a storm. "No. We don't." Sae could feel the dog's breath with how close she had just gotten. It probably didn't help that she gave the dog quite the dirty look when she mentioned the whole relying on criminals thing, as if she was spitting pure venom on the guard dog. "We are perfectly equipped to handle this situation on our own."_

" _Then why? What's the point of getting the dregs of society to help in some investigation like this?"_

" _Multiple reasons," the dog huffed as she leaned back. "First, you are one of three trusted prisoners recommended to me, so this should be a good opportunity for you. A sign of trust in your rehabilitation. Second, it's good to have an extra pair of hands and eyes, especially when inmates seem to have loose lips when guards aren't around. Third, it saves time. Not by a lot, but with the amount of prisoners here, a trusted prisoner like yourself can help a tad with narrowing things down around the ward."_

" _...you say that, but you also said that you could handle it, I don't think I'd be needed—"_

 _A growl silenced her. "As I already told you, we have this under control, we can easily find the killer without help from inmates. We're more than capable of doing it ourselves and have the ability to do so. There are a lot of prisoners within Styx, so it's more of a time issue with screening every prisoner thoroughly and I don't want to wait until we find one that gives us a lead. That might take a while depending on how unlucky we might be when screening inmates. I'm not saying that I want you to find the ones responsible per say, I just want you to have a look around and keep an ear out for anything that could relate to the issue."_

 _The jackal was definitely the type to hunt down the ones responsible as soon as possible. Sae had to give her props to her dedication as she listened to what the guard dog had to say, but she just couldn't understand why she chose her of all people. There had to be something else. "Is there any other reason why you chose me?"_

 _Shi didn't skip a beat as she said, "your background."_

 _The long haired woman froze, if only for a second as it almost made her stutter. "Surely, you can't be seriously considering that."_

" _I am."_

" _But I'm a criminal. You know this right?"_

" _And we also have your history on record. You're a trusted inmate for a reason, Kumiza."_

 _Sae had no comeback for that. How could she?_

" _So what do you need me to do?"_

It didn't last long though as an alarm went off which meant another prisoner was doing something stupid. But Shi seemed to think otherwise as she ran off, her growling worse than before. It was like she was out for blood.

Knowing what she knew, those darn criminals were probably causing more problems as usual.

Heh, not like she's one to talk.

She wondered if she should tackle the whole problem that was given to her and two other prisoners now, when the chaos was somewhat high. Shi didn't mention much before she left when that alarm rang, but from what she recalled...

It wasn't the murderer that they needed to find, which had surprised her.

They needed to find a third party that got involved afterwards.

Or rather, anything that might hint towards that third party. There were still the two others that she was supposed to be working with, Shi didn't mention anything about them at all.

However, right now, the only option to do was to wait until she got the full story once whoever decided it was a good idea to get the guards riled up was dealt with.

Shouldn't take too long.

* * *

As Muika and the rookie froze under the intense gazes (or glares) of those within the room, the male warden Seimei stood almost immediately. "What?" While he didn't shout, it was powerful enough to silence the room...that's if anyone had been talking that is.

Gulping, Hokori was able to mutter out, "Some guy named Vito, he managed to break out of his cell or something! I don't know, I...Bunri told me to get you guys!"

"I see...thank you, Hokori." the other warden, Eris thanked as she gave a nod in his direction. "Seimei, I believe you can handle this."

"Of course." The caped warden began to walk around the table. Right before he did however, he grabbed a bokken off a nearby table against the side of the room.

"Tai, Alexios, follow me. Dahlia, Iwazaru, go and deal with any of the prisoners trying to take advantage of the chaos."

The only reply he received were four salutes.

And with great speed, Seimei had already dashed out of the room. The speed was so great that it caused the two that weren't used to the speed to grab hold of the desk to prevent themselves from being blown away.

"Perfect. This is just perfect!" Tai grinned, sending a shiver down Hokori's spine. He had the misfortune of seeing such a wicked grin. "I can't wait to burn all those pathetic bastards down a peg."

"Easy, Tai." Alexios stood, placing a hand on the more than eager guard's shoulder, "remember, we're only going to deal with Vito should Seimei need or want us to or deal with any other prisoners trying to get in on the action."

The blonde, red eyed guard just flashed a sadistic grin towards the taller guard. "I'm just keeping them in line, that's all. Better for us to act first than give those ingrates the idea about it."

The new guard watched as the two left the room as the guard with the lower face mask dashed right on by, without a word. "Be careful!" Mizaru had called out, feeling around the table.

Dahlia had an unreadable look in her eye as she walked on past the new guard. Hokori didn't know what was up with her and thinking about it, he didn't really know most of these people aside from a couple of names that he heard in conversations or stories.

Just before Dahlia left however, the other warden coughed. "Remember protocol, everyone. Good luck."

Dahlia gave her a nod before she ran out the doors. Now, the warden turned to Muika and Hokori. "Thank you for informing us of this problem. To think it would happen now of all days..."

"I'm just glad...I could deliver it in time." the younger Yomaura sibling bowed, almost tripping on the carpet, as the fox joined in not too long afterwards.

"Yea...Yeah! No trouble!"

The woman with bird wings sighed. "Ah man, I sorta wanted to go too..."

Her coworker didn't seem to share the same feelings. "Easier for us." Despite looking in her direction, his hat was still obscuring his eyes. He took a swig from his drinking gourd as some of it rolled down the sides of his mouth while the short, grey bird-featured woman shot him a pout. "Hey, I'm just saying. There's always next time."

"Hn, guess you're right...still, I think my quirk would be pretty useful in keeping those criminals in check!"

"Yep, yep." The drinker swished the gourd around, frowning at the low swishing. "You might be the backup's backup."

Stopping from another chug, he shrugged in the direction of Hokori. "Oh yeah, we got the new guy with us. Must've been quite a day for you, eh?"

"Oh right! We haven't introduced ourselves to the new guy, haven't we?!" the bird woman's smile wavered for a second. "Though, with the situation now might not be a good time, especially if we might be extra backup without warning, but it's good to meet you!"

Eris on the other hand was looking down at some papers, an intense look from her one visible eye.

It looked like they had to postpone this matter for another week or at least a couple of days. " _Damn it._ " her sole eye glared down onto the page. They couldn't waste too much time, but Vito was a big issue.

Thankfully for her, she had seemed to have gone unnoticed thanks to the other guards introducing themselves to the rookie.

"Uh, thank you! It's nice to meet you guys too!" The fox smiled as he turned back to Muika once Eris coughed to gain the other guard's attention.

Leaning in, the fox whispered, "are they always like this?" he gestured to both the seated guards and the ones who left.

Muika only gave him a polite smile in response.

* * *

"Urgh. Can that alarm stop?" Li groaned as Remko looked over his shoulder, seeing the neon yellow inmate cover his ears.

"Hmm, this might be a good opportunity, actually."

Li shot him a look, "for what? What could possibly be a good opportunity during this racket?"

As if crossing the street, Remko looked both ways multiple times, checking if they were alone, before leaning in. "Jailbreak!"

"Oh...this again."

Remko just huffed when Li shot him another deadpanned look. "I'm serious! I have experience! What's one more?!"

"Well, seeing how security is super tight and that there's been no escapes ever, as far as I'm aware, that 'one more' is more akin to what people call: famous last words," said a rather smooth voice as it entered the conversation unnoticed. The half American, Zuko, gave them a charming smile.

"Who...Who are you?" Remko jumped back, ready to fight as his silver arm shifted slightly.

"Easy there tiger, the name's Zuko. Zuko Yamamoto, at your service."

Looking around, Remko cautiously approached the invasive convict. "And why are you here?"

"Simple! I overheard you mention about being an experienced jailbreaker so I decided to offer you my services. Should you be serious about it of course." Zuko's smile widened as he threw an arm around the jailbreaker. "Seems like this chaos can provide good cover, no?"

Before Remko could even get a word in, it seemed Zuko had noticed someone, judging by the slightest change in his expression.

A playing card soon flew past them, embedding itself into the wall like a throwing knife. "I wouldn't try that if I were you." the owner of the card, Johnny warned.

It was Remko that asked, "and why's that?"

The young American pointed in the direction of some of the guards. "See? Despite the alarm and some guards, like Bunri, going by earlier, there are still many guards sticking to their routine."

"Tch, they're not gonna stop any brawl that's going on with those low numbers." the silver armed inmate frowned. It would make those plans much harder if there were still this many guards lingering around.

The brown eyed card shuffler sighed. "It's not about stopping a brawl. From what I've seen during my time here, short as it is, it's about keeping the others in line and that includes _us_ doing anything that might take advantage of the situation."

"Is that true?" Li asked, turning to Zuko who just nodded.

"Yep!" Zuko sang, "plus those low numbers are more than enough to deal with any bad egg prisoners. Trust us, the guards can be unrelenting when they need be, right Johnny?" Looking over his shoulder, Johnny just gave him a cold look. He still nodded, but ouch.

The heterochromia-eyed inmate kept his eyes on the card thrower. "How long have you been here? You definitely seem younger than me."

Johnny turned away from the group, focusing on his deck while Zuko popped in. "A couple of months before you. Can't remember exactly, almost a year? Maybe not? Eh, who cares though."

"So a newbie like us, eh?"

Johnny didn't respond, but Zuko definitely did. "Look at him now, acting like the experienced prison mentor—"

Another card was thrown not a second after.

"Uh oh, he's flustered!"

Johnny was about to throw another, but a voice had caused him to freeze immediately.

"You inmates better not try anything on my watch."

Turning to see just who owned the voice, all were greeted to the sight of Dahlia, arms crossed as she looked down on them all.

"We're not causing any problems," Zuko gave that charming smile of his to the nice, lovely guard. "We were just teasing the kid about his flustered face, that's all."

However, she wasn't having it. "Shut it." The way she said that so coldly carried a dangerous tone that caused him to do exactly what he was told to do. Shut up.

" _At least it's better than having Tai burn us alive..._ "

* * *

Sweat rolled down Bunri's face. Another clone bit the dust as the blood drinking Rin was pinned to the ground.

"Work on opening that cell," the original ordered one of the free clones.

Rin wiggled and squirmed, trying his hardest to reach the nearby puddles of blood. "Hehehehehehe," Rin giggled, as he was once again slammed into the ground.

"Stop trying to resist, Yonaga." one of the clones spat as the vampiric prisoner kept rolling around. He was a persistent one...

One of the clones fell shortly after, a chunk of their leg being ripped out. As the clone dissipated, the convict hungry for blood slammed his head into the ground.

" _What is he even doing?_ " Bunri watched as Rin slammed his head on the ground again. The third time however, was what concerned him. "Restrain him! Quickly!"

Blood was pouring down the handcuffed prisoner's face.

He went to slam his head down again, right as a clone reached out to stop him, one of the clones holding him down at that, when he changed his course of action and instead clamped his fangs down on some of the very same clone's fingers.

Unfortunately for Bunri, that act removed one guard holding the vampire down.

" _What the hell is his plan? If there even is one..._ " Bunri thought as more clones emerged just as Rin managed to get to his feet after the other clone dropped its guard. It didn't take long for him to be free as he spat all over the ground, making retching noises as he did.

"Disgusting," came the low groan from the red eyed convict, "no blood. Bad taste."

His nose quickly got back to work when the scent of blood tickled his nose. Rin tried to reach the other inmates that were sprawled along the ground, but was thwarted by another round of clones.

Pesky flies that wouldn't go away.

Bad tasting flies at that.

A roar of anguish preceded his lunge. Kicking and biting as he fought through the clones as they tried to drag him down.

Slamming his foot down, Rin broke into a sprint, right as an opening had appeared!

"Guess the clones were too soft for you."

Right before Rin's eyes, the white haired cloning guard slid in between him and his next meal.

The black haired criminal continued his sprint, he wasn't going to let this guy stop him. In the end, it was just more blood to drink. Wasn't it?

As soon as he got in range, Bunri acted, rushing forward sending a quick palm thrust into Rin's face, staggering the inmate thanks to the suddenness of the attack.

Grabbing a hold of the prisoner's uniform soon after, Bunri flipped the vampire into the air. While said inmate was in the air, they soon came crashing down faster than expecting, thanks to the guard slamming them downward.

A gasp of pain barely escaped the inmate before even those were silenced with a hard punch to the throat.

Then a wave of clones were upon him, taking over the original's job of handling the inmate.

"Should've followed orders, Yonaga." the white haired guard tipped his hat before heading over to the cell. Inspecting the cell's door, it was clear that it had been damaged a bit, probably from when he tossed the inmates around. "Hm, needs some repairs." he mused as his clones threw Rin back into the cell.

One clone, without being told, immediately left as Bunri looked back to where Vito had been. "Some of you go and find Vito, the rest of you stay here."

The clones then jumped the railing as they ran in the opposite direction.

"Well, at least this allows us to update this old door."

* * *

Vito laid defeated for the second time in his life as he was now up against a wall as Fumma worked on removing the sweat from his forehead, his quirk turning back into its coat form.

"That's what you get for trying to hurt my girls you bastard." he heard Akita shout at the fallen one-eyed man.

"The same can be said for harming my underling." he added on. Sure, they swooped in and attacked Vito while he was weakened, but who cared about that, the job was done. Well, maybe that snake prisoner who looked at them with a similar look Vito gave them...

Now, that left Fumma with one last problem. The guard dog glaring at him. He had to respect her loyalty to her duty, she was practically unmovable in that regard.

As far as he recalled, the only thing he did wrong was get into a brawl and go into a ward he had no business being in. This was probably enough to get the so-called Cerberus of Styx to attack him, despite someone like Vito previously walking around.

From one prisoner to the next. Another day for a guard.

Yet, she might just give him a warning instead, but he found it hard to tell (but mostly hard to believe), but he was already prepared to defend himself should anything happen...thinking that through, that would just dig his grave deeper.

It was then that Fumma felt a strong gust of wind passed right on by him, and instinctively, he froze if only for a short time. Despite having his guard up, it was easily bypassed by this person.

"And what are you inmates doing?"

All eyes were on the newcomer, bokken in his hand as he stared— no, glared them all down with an indiscernible look in his eye.

"Ah shit..."

The warden had arrived.

Putting on a charming smile, Fumma held his hands up. "No worries! I can explain. I, or we, were just handling Vito from doing any more damage. A bit of self defence. You can thank—"

He fell to his knees as pain suddenly erupted throughout his body. Fumma held his stomach from the impact.

Two things had caught his attention as he tore his gaze from the ground he was now forcefully fixated on. The first was the warden, looking down at him, the weapon of pain in his grasp. The second was Akita, looking awfully smug at him.

It looked like she was going to taunt him any second now.

But before anything could happen, she too was forced onto her knees. Her eyes were just as wide as his were before and he could only imagine that she now felt what he just felt.

"Inmate Akita," the warden's tone was icy at best. "How did you get into this ward? The walls are too thick for you to phase through."

The kneeling convict just shot the warden a sly smile with a wink to boot. "I just walked right in~, that's all."

 _Akita was in a hurry. If what she saw was real, then it looked bad. Sure, she had no idea who that fucker was, but her girls were at stake._

 _However, there was a problem. The gate into the co-ed ward was inaccessible to her. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get through._

 _It seemed luck was on her side this time, as she recognized the guard on duty. "...Akita," they noticed. He took the time to eye her up and down with a cautious look. "What are you doing here, you know you're not allowed to enter the co-ed ward. Turn back."_

 _Akita ignored him, walking closer and closer. Reaching out as her hand slid down his cheek. "Really? 'Cause I don't think so." a glint in her eye sent a shiver down the guard's spine. The slight shade of pink swelling in his cheeks as she continued., "I think I have a very valid reason to walk in this time."_

 _The guard's cautious look only amplified. "Return to your ward, Akita." Despite the guard's words, Akita smirked at the slight stutter that would've been unnoticed by most other people._

" _It would be a real shame if another guard or even a warden learnt of what you did. I mean, if anyone found out... it wouldn't be a pretty picture for you."_

 _The guard's expression did a one-eighty, from pink to red, the guard glared. "You wouldn't."_

" _Try me."_

" _..."_

" _..."_

" _...Fine, just this once."_

"All I did was—"

The warden's bokken was now pointing at her face, only an inch away, daring her to continue. "Silence. No matter how you got into this ward, it will be looked into."

As Akita stared up at the warden, Fumma glanced over to see the snarling jackal, standing over a guard that had been knocked out. " _How long had that guard been there?_ "

"We missed out on all the fun, shame." Tai walked in, sighing as Alexios followed, heading straight over to Osamu once he saw him. Following them, was a small group of clones that had managed to make it to the scene as they looked both relieved and worried.

The tall, olive skinned guard checked Osamu over. "Seems you got thrown through the ringer there, buddy." He then sent a glance to the unconscious Reiji who wasn't too far from his co-worker. "Seems like you're not the only one."

It was a really good thing Osamu wore that armour. Vito sure made a mess of the people he chose to fight.

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the wall. "I'M NOT DONE YET! NO WAY, NO FUCKING WAY! I DON'T WANT THIS TO EVER END! I'M HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN TO END IT HERE! I REFUSE TO LET IT SLIP BY MY FINGERS AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO REGRET IT THIS TIME!"

"No fucking way, he's getting up again?!" Chikuha spat in disbelief. "Why can't he just stay down!"

This time as he rose from the brink of defeat, Vito continued to grow, much more than ever before or what he had even shown while in Styx. His muscles were expanding further than before! He was no longer the hulking figure he was before, no no. Thicker, wider and taller. It was like a completely different man save for a few traits. He was even taller than Kuroishi at this point, one of the well known prison giants.

Since the days he was defeated by that random hero, he got stronger. Pushing his own limits on the inmates within Styx, but soon he too was locked up away. He couldn't remember the exact details, only the bored look of a warden, surrounding darkness and pain. Soon, he was locked up within that cramped little cell for ages! Years even! Sure, he was able to get out for some night time fun (rare as that was), but he had all the time in the world to make himself stronger...this was that result of that new sought out strength.

Now, Vito was at his limit, his muscles and form were at their limit, further than his first defeat. His quirk pushed him to his very limits. This new monstrous form was his peak!

His hard work didn't go to waste. Vito was back in action.

"I'm not holding back anymore! Now show me a good time, _warden_!" Once he had spotted the warden himself, he couldn't help but grin! What a perfect victim to go all out on.

Seimei tossed his bokken over to Alexios. An act that seemed to please the hedonistic monster. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Fuck him up boss, try not to kill him and that's coming from me of all people." Tai grinned, "but if you can't hold back. Nothing some shallow graves won't solve."

The pale lavender eyed warden just stared down the rampaging monster that was Vito as he loosened his tightly clenched fist.

Ignoring all over distractions, Vito with incredible speed couldn't be followed as he zoomed in on the warden. Seimei in response, raised his hand, swinging it to the side, right at Vito...hard! It was a simple backhanded slap that sent Vito barrelling into the wall with tremendous force in less than a second.

And Seimei, had nothing to say.

"What...the FUCK...!" Chikuha's jaw dropped as Vito was smashed against the wall, his grin gone as well as his consciousness.

The kneeling Fumma and Akita just looked on, but one thing was clear to them at that moment. They kept to the ground.

Surprisingly, Yua still kept up her calm, unchanging expression as Inyoku just looked like a kid that saw Santa putting presents under the tree.

"I wanna fight him!"

"You can't be fucking serious! Did you see what he just did?" The woman with the compass tattoo on her hand shot the snake an odd look. She even grabbed his kariginu and shook him around for a bit!

Tai just grinned at the snake, "be our guest. Go for it."

Inyoku just might have done just that if it weren't for Chikuha already having a hold on him.

Meanwhile, Seimei took back his bokken. "Alexios, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on the co-ed ward. Do not let any prisoners who don't have access to the ward walk through the hole. I'll get the drones to start on repairs. Bunri's clones, patrol the area and take inmate Maeda to the infirmary. Also take the other inmates injured by Vito to the infirmary as well."

Alexios smiled and gave a salute along with the clones. "Understood, sir."

As the clones ran about into positions, one scooped up Reiji and immediately booked it for the infirmary as another clone followed.

"Tai, I want you to do the same, but in the male ward and keep them in line. Stay close to the hole as much as you can. Shi, I want you to do the same with the female ward."

Upon his orders, they saluted. One with a sadistic grin and the other with stoic loyalty. The prisoners didn't dare to move as Seimei walked on by them, scooping Osamu into his arms.

"I shall take Osamu to the infirmary and will enter the patrol routines." he shot a look to the down Vito. "And deal with him personally."

"And what about these prisoners, sir?" Alexios asked, looking in their direction.

Seimei, now with Osamu in his arms said, "inmates Aoi, Shiro and Ueno are fine. Leave them be." Now, the other two were under an intense glare. "Inmates Akita and Yoshitsune should be escorted back into their wards."

"Ouch." Fumma sarcastically spat, earning a glare from the guards. Akita didn't exactly help with her less than pleased expression.

"Because of Vito's interference, I will allow some leeway with self defence, but you two, have entered wards you had no business being in and if I could guess, _willingly_ entered after Vito. Now go back to your wards before I reconsider your punishment. Consider this a strike."

Both of the supposed top dog convicts of Styx didn't even say a word as they stood before clones flanked them, already herding them out like sheep.

Once those two were gone, the caped warden turned his attention to the other three. "I hope you three will continue to uphold good behaviour. As I said before, I'll give you leeway with what happened here with Vito." He took a step before adding, "don't mistake that as a free get out of trouble card." a sharp look in his eyes told them all that they needed to know.

It was hard to even respond, but Yua found a way.

"Thank you," Yua nodded.

"Eh?" A stunned Chikuha blinked, turning to see Yua's calm expression. "Huh?"

The warden then turned his attention to the rattlesnake. "Your arm...come with me." Inyoku tried to say something, yet no words came to mind. In the end, he gave the warden a nod.

Glancing down to the guard in his arms, Seimei already began to walk off, Inyoku in tow. "I'll leave things in your hands, Alexios."

As quickly as he arrived, the warden left with Osamu in his arms. The remaining guard, Alexios, just smiled at the two inmates. "It must have been tough for you guys when he attacked, hopefully you can put that behind you moving forward with your rehabilitation."

"What are you on about—" Sadly (or rather thankfully) for Chikuha, she was politely cut off.

"It was just self-defence."

The guard nodded, keeping up his smile. "Now, if you excuse me. I have to keep an eye on Vito. He shouldn't get back up, but you never know these days."

The duo had walked away by then, going down a hallway to return back to the female ward of the prison, but they didn't get too far when Chikuha jumped in front of the oleander haired woman. "What the hell was that? With the warden and that?"

Without missing a beat, she got an answer. "Remember that we are in the co-ed ward, there's an amount of trust that we have gotten. Even if that isn't shared by all the guards. I was simply ending it on a good note."

"What are you trying to imply with that?" A fierce look had appeared within the slender woman's pink eyes.

"That the both of you would make it worse."

It didn't take long for Chikuha to slump a bit after that. Was Inyoku and her that bad? "...seriously?" All she got was a nod. "You could have made it sound nicer for me at least! Fuck you."

"No."

As Chikuha threw profanity around, she eventually shrugged saying, "well, thanks I guess? Don't know what for, but felt I should thank ya."

Silence filled the hallway and it was then that the tank top convict noticed that Yua was further ahead than what she had been just seconds before. When did she start walking again?!

"Hey! Where the fuck are you going?!"

"Back to my cell to rest."

The wavy haired Chikuha scratched the back of her head, "...that does sound pretty good..." Now that everything was over, it seemed like fatigue was indeed catching up.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Lambert looked over the infirmary, multiple beds filled with various prisoners. All unconscious due to the rampaging Vito. It had been only a couple of hours since they were all brought to the infirmary, the good news being that they would be able to recover in time.

"I can't believe Vito got out." he heard as Carna walked in. "That should have been impossible."

The tired doctor looked in the direction of his fellow doctor before turning back to the inmates. "So how did he get out?"

"Hold on. While I was out, I got you something." he heard the sound of papers hitting the table.

"...Really hope that's a nice warm glass of milk." Maybe if he believed hard enough, the paperwork that was there would magically be replaced.

He heard a light chuckle from his fellow doctor, "calm down. It's not paperwork over all the inmates. Though I need you to seriously have a look at this. It involves our previous discussion."

Now that caught his attention. Quickly making his way over to the table, he immediately began scanning the documents. "These are...Vito's prints."

"Exactly. Seimei wanted me to check Vito's cell while he dragged him back. So as I was inspecting his prints—"

Lambert's eyes widened as they brimmed with realization. "You made a connection."

"That's right. Vito's prints were the same ones that were found on the body. We found our killer."

Lambert placed the papers back on the table. "To think it was Vito..." That only raised questions. Questions he didn't have the answers to, but wanted. "If he was the one to kill that other inmate, and he broke out today...how the hell did he get out before?!"

"Even when they checked out his cell, there was no damage done to it," Carna revealed as she picked up the pieces of paper, "Osamu regained consciousness briefly and during that time he managed to tell us that Vito claimed to have broken out himself, but that was clearly a lie looking at his cell. It will still take time for him to recover completely though."

"I'm glad...I'm guessing Eris will be taking control of Vito's interrogation?"

"Of course."

Lambert really wanted that drink now. "So now we have to deal with a third party that dealt with the corpse but also another that allowed Vito to leave his cell, presumably many times before."

The other doctor pulled up a chair as she searched through a desk draw. "We have no idea if those two incidents are the same third party or not, either way prints on them are limited. Only Vito's prints were in his cell as well as the body. Whether it's a single person, or multiple, they're keeping their trail clean."

The dark brown haired doctor dropped himself down on a chair, right on the opposite side of his fellow red-haired head doctor. "Do the wardens know?"

"As far as I know, only Seimei. I did watch him drag Vito back after all."

"And...?"

As Carna pulled out a pen, she tapped her fingers on the wooden desk as she skimmed the page. "He quickly connected the dots of someone helping Vito escape and I informed him of what I found. So right now I just have to compile my notes and bring this to him later, but now I have to add in the fact that Vito's prints were the same ones involved with the recent murder."

Lambert hummed as he listened. "And bring up all the possible other times Vito has left his cell thanks to a third party."

"Mhm."

He dipped his head down in thought as he decided to let Carna work, probably for the best. This gave him time to shift through his own thoughts. " _We also need to tell Shi about it too._ " It was probably a good idea to do that now.

Styx's Cerberus ran off after being told about three trustworthy candidates among the inmates and now with Vito being involved in both in the murder...he had to call her back.

He could only hope that Eris was able to get significant information out of Vito. Information that would hopefully close the murder case for good.

* * *

It had been a few days since he was defeated and thrown back into his cell. Now his arms were restrained by the new cutting anti-quirk technology straitjackets.

Made just for him after his latest stunt. He couldn't even use his quirk properly without feeling like his entire body was about to explode.

When he looked up after hearing the noise in front of his cell door, he saw a familiar figure (at least from what he could recall last time). Standing sideways, as if pausing from a walk, a red eye turned to him. "I see you were captured again."

The large man huffed, "yeah, yeah. Whatever. At least I did what you wanted _and_ I had the time of my life!"

The voice stayed silent for a while. "Did anything happen?"

"Just some questioning of how I got out of my cell, don't think they bought it though, probably because of the door." With a strong kick, Vito couldn't even dent it.

"Is that so..."

Vito smirked at the figure. "At least I never mentioned anything about your involvement. So now you can let me out again when things blow over!" Laughter filled the small cell.

"..."

Shortly, the laughter stopped once the confined prisoner noticed it was only him revelling in the moment. "Oi, red eye, why so silent? I did what you told me to do."

"That you did. But it seems that there has been a misunderstanding between us."

Vito scrunched his face up. "What? What are you on about? What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"You've done your part, even your containment was a part of it. I just needed some needed chaos, that's all. Why should I let you out again when you've already done what I needed you to do?"

"You...YOU BASTARD! WE HAD A DEAL!"

"And that deal has already come and gone. We both held up the ends of the deal," the voice replied coldly. "Don't worry though, your actions will not go to waste."

Vito began to kick the door harder than before. He was still unable to dent it. "YOU'RE GOD DAMN FUCKING LUCKY YOU'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS DOOR SHITFUCKER!"

"Besides, because of your 'escape', the guards have increased security on your cell. Even us talking right now alone is just a miracle, or rather, taking the smallest sliver of opportunity." this time, the voice chuckled. "Ah, and about your 'night time activities'. You can kiss them goodbye. With your increased security, they're not going to let you out again and I believe there was a misunderstanding between us the other night. I am not one of those people who allowed you to go on those night time activities. I was simply unrelated to it all. So it seems you're stuck in this cell indefinitely."

"WHAT?!"

"It doesn't matter though, I'm done with you. Thank you for your contribution, this is the last time we'll see each other. Goodbye."

"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING DIPSHIT! I'LL RIP YOUR SPINE OUT! COME BACK! BASTARD!"

The solitary confinement cell was quite lively that night as a pair of footsteps were drowned out by the roars of a raging, caged monster.


	15. Back to the Daily Grind

Some days have passed since the incident with Vito. The guards and the drones from the armourers had already patched up the damage the wandering Monster of Venice had caused and making sure no other inmate would cause any more trouble. The first thing to be fixed was the wall into the co-ed ward.

None of the prisoners dared to get close or try their luck with trying to sneak through. Especially with the presence of one of the warden's lurking around with the addition of some of the more stricter guards that were more than fine with harming a prisoner. Even if they glanced in the direction of the hole in the wall.

In the end, the wall was fixed while some minor touches were fixed up such as Rin's cell door getting an upgrade, the replacement of a ripped and damaged table, and so forth.

Things were starting to get back to normal for Styx. At least, as normally as it usually was.

Most days were quiet, some people just trying to spend their days without problems so they could do their time and leave. Playing cards, reading, working out or just exercising, etc. There were always those prisoners that weren't like that, of course. Those who wanted to cause chaos, fight and whatnot. Styx was a home for these sorts, it was one of the best prisons in the world and it definitely lived up to the title with its prisoners.

While there were the prisoners that just wanted to get things done with as fast as possible, if they were lucky with their sentence, there were the bad eggs that wanted to ruin it for everyone at any given moment. Whether they be a regular prisoner in the wards or one of the more dangerous, locked away criminals the world had the misfortune of experiencing.

It was only natural for those bad eggs to be more varied within Styx than say a regular prison. Yet, despite all the outbreak of prison fights or the recent rarity of one of the solitary confinement ward prisoners breaking loose, the guards of Styx stood tall. No matter what problem arose within one of the best prisons in the world, Styx was unshakeable.

For now, things were slowly going back to normal, it was almost peaceful compared to how it usually was.

Within a dark room, a figure paced back and forth as they nibbled on their finger, a panicked look in their round eyes. If it wasn't for a small light that just emitted from a nearby phone, then this person would have either: made a small trench or consumed their finger entirely.

"Master!" the voice cried as they scurried over to the phone.

The lone figure shivered as they waited. "I heard you slipped up again," came the cold, unamused tone, "you were careless."

"Master! I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" the figure fumbled the smartphone in their hands, the blinding blue light emitting from the small screen caused them to wince at the image of a blank silhouette.

They could only hear a voice, a voice of their beloved master. "You're quite lucky things turned out the way they did."

"Yes! I'm sorry!" they pleaded, leaning a bit too close to their phone. "I can explain!"

'Master' was silent. It caused this sorry figure to pace around the dark room once more.

"Very well."

"Thank you, Master!" the figure sighed with relief. "I had no idea Vito would break out of his cell! I didn't think he would even get out with the amount of security there."

The voice huffed, "focus. Stay on track."

Gulping, the figure nodded, only to realise that the call was solely a voice one. "Sorry. As I was saying, I had no idea that Vito even got out! Especially with the night before his breakout..."

"Ah yes. The slip up." the silhouette in the room, blinded by a blue light froze at the mention. "You let them find a body. You made a body."

"It wasn't my fault master!" the person panicked. "I knew Vito was dangerous. I'm sorry, I didn't calculate the risk factor in this particular venture with him. It caused the body to be dis-"

The voice hummed. "You're quite lucky, you know. It's a good thing that it benefits us no matter the outcome."

"Master?"

"It doesn't matter where the body was discovered. Death isn't something new when it comes to our current project, you know that right?" As if watching, the voice continued once their loyal minion nodded. "This happened last time remember? A body popped up which raised some alarms. This is nothing new. You have managed the same thing again: a body appearing in a suspicious way that gained unwanted attention."

Now bowing, the figure cried, "I'm so sorry for my mistakes, Master!"

A chuckle came from the phone, "don't be. It has knocked us back a bit. The body is now locked away for the time being and should be dealt with shortly by now and Vito is now off limits for good. You have to resort to other, regular methods now."

A weary sigh escaped the lone person's lips, it was as if a cold breeze rolled through the room. "How? How could I possibly recover? I ruined your hard work-"

"Trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"

That got an immediate reaction. "Of course Master!"

"...Listen closely. Leave the body alone for now, don't worry about it. That will be dealt with in time, focus on your work. Both of them. These things can be covered up." Now, the lonely person standing in the dark room, gripped the phone with determination as they listened to their dear master. "This isn't a major setback, you still have the methods to achieve our goals."

"But what about the knockback?"

Master, as they were known, hummed in amusement. "Yes, but only in how active you can be. Whether that be a slow down or complete, temporary stop."

The minion gulped again, " _That means...I have to cease for now...doesn't it._ " they went to speak, but their master stopped them.

"Before you can even manage to say what I know you're probably thinking, no. It doesn't worry me. Nothing is halted forever, remember what I said before."

Were they that predictable? They almost blushed in embarrassment. No, their master was just proving their greatness again.

"Now, I am quite busy and must get back to work. I believe you can do it. After all, you are my successor."

The successor's eyes widened, "Master…!"

A chuckle followed, "your quirk is also instrumental to the operation too."

The successor shifted, uncomfortable, "but Master, I'm not suited to being a worthy successor. I cannot live up to your legend! I'm unworthy of such a title like successor and your praise!"

"But you _are_ my successor. I chose you after all. Are you saying that I, of all people, chose the wrong person?"

"Mas-"

Master sighed, disappointment clear in their tone, "suppose I did then. I guess I just have to raise a new, worthy successor then-"

"No! Master stop! I'm worthy of being your successor, out of everyone you chose me, and I plan on living up to your expectations!"

The voice of their master laughed. "Very good. I knew I chose well."

As the successor looked around the dark room, they soon whispered, "so what should I do? Lie low and wait, or continue like usual?" they listened to the hums of their master, oh how it soothed them.

"Depends on the current situation. If it's safe to continue, then by all means, but with recent activities, best to not cause yet another slip up."

"Ri...right."

"One last thing: you need to come up with a plan." Master informed. "You are still following orders and once you take over, you'll have no more orders to follow. So take things into your own hands, my dear successor."

The phone holder nodded, their grip on their smartphone loosening. "Understood."

"Now get out there, lie low and continue with the plan."

The successor saluted. "Yes, Master!"

* * *

Eris stood in her office, phone to her ear. "I see. Do you think it's related?" she paused for a brief moment as she walked around her desk. "No, best not to act in any way just in case. Thank you for this sudden call, Furore. Please send the details by email later on. Thank you. Goodbye."

Ending the call, she placed her phone down with a light little thud on her desk.

The phone call was sudden and she would have ignored it if it wasn't for who exactly was calling her. It really only meant one thing, that it was important. Sadly though, an sudden urgent call like this ate up her time, so she had to leave the questioning of the week's most talked about inmate to the staff.

Was the information she got worth it? Yes, she'd say so.

Now, all she had to do was wait until Furore sent her that email, when he could of course.

" _I hope they managed to get something out of Vito._ " She frowned at the thought. With the recent information they got from the doctors, they now had to not only deal with Vito's breakout but the other time he killed a prisoner when he was supposed to be locked up.

How many times had he left his cell before the incident? They really needed the information now, especially if some third party had been helping him out. She would have to thank Carna later but with all the revelations, it didn't look good for Vito.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door.

"Ma'am?" a guard asked as they popped their head in.

"Come in. What's the matter?"

Now entering the room, the guard gave a short lived salute. "It's about Vito, ma'am. While he has regained consciousness, he was tight-lipped with the questions we asked."

That came to no surprise. Once Vito had been restrained and locked back up in his undamaged cell, she was the one to lead the interrogation, however the phone call with Furore was just as urgent.

"Ma'am?"

The eyepatched woman shook her head as she came back to her senses. "I will personally retake control of the interrogation as I was supposed to. I apologise for putting that burden on you while I had to deal with other matters."

The guard shook their head, "it's fine, ma'am! Does this mean, you'll be the one interrogating the inmate?"

"Naturally."

Smiling, the guard placed down a clipboard that they had been carrying. "If it's you, ma'am, then Vito will surely crack."

Picking the clipboard up with a quick scan of its contents, Eris walked past the guard with only one destination in mind.

It was time to get some answers.

* * *

Sitting alone in the comfort of the co-ed ward's library, Sae took the time to organise her thoughts as she waited for the other two people she was supposed to be working with.

It was odd. To think she would be helping out with this problem, to think that she ended up _agreeing_ to it. It definitely came as a shock to her.

" _To find some third party criminal that tampered with the corpse, more or less._ " she thought, looking at the sole clock in the room.

She would say that her waiting here was a waste of time, since she didn't really have any contact with the other two when Shi first reached out to them, but thankfully Shi had managed to set some kind of meeting up.

Whether that was by force or not was up in the air.

" _Hopefully they're not a handful._ " she thought. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, especially if the other two had a vendetta against her, like a few of the other inmates that lurked in the shadows.

All she could do until then was try to quell her thoughts about it.

Not much time passed as she heard someone enter the co-ed ward library. The fact that the other inmates were a part of the co-ed ward did indeed ease her a bit.

"Hey," the newcomer greeted as they pulled up a chair opposite of her. "I see we're working together, Sae."

The one sitting across from her was none other than Ashita Insatsushi.

So this was one of the two inmates she would be working with. It didn't take a genius to figure out why she of all people was chosen. It did make her question why she herself was chosen if Ashita was here, but it was best not to question that for a few reasons…

"I heard you were approached by Shi as well?" the information broker asked, making herself comfortable.

"Yeah, I assume you already know why we're here?"

The dyed haired woman nodded, "I do. A classic prison murder with a twist."

Sae found herself nodding after her, "I'm glad you're one of the ones chosen." It definitely made things easier, but that also brought up another question. Ashita would make the search easier, but did that mean she (herself) was just an extra pair of hands to help the info broker search? Or was she some type of bodyguard?

Shi didn't really specify anything…

Ashita shot her a playful grin as their conversation slowly turned into pure silence.

"Do you know who the other one is?" the emerald eyed inmate asked out of the blue.

"Mhm," of course she did, "she'll be here shortly."

She? "Not an inmate from the male ward? I would have thought that there would be at least one to search around the male ward."

Ashita however shrugged, "it is a matter of trust and with what happened with the male ward recently, probably for the best not to involve any of them."

"I guess that's true..."

"Plus, those inmates would have to be a part of the co-ed ward too," came the playful tone. "Though I guess there are those who already met those requirements, but in the end, it's for Shi to decide. If you want, you could bring that up with her."

" _At least it wasn't the battle hungry Inyoku,_ " Sae thought to herself. " _But that is a good idea._ " Well, at least to consider. Hopefully Shi would be open to the idea of a convict's opinion.

Ashita turned towards the entrance right as the third member of Shi's prisoner investigation team walked in. "Sorry if I kept you waiting," the stoic tone already gave away who it was to the long haired inmate.

"Morning, Yua."

The calm, green haired woman had gracefully taken a seat at the table. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nah," Ashita yawned, "we were just about to start."

Taking that as an open opportunity, Sae took a deep breath.

It was now or never. "We should start with the investigation, correct?" as soon as she asked, she didn't even wait for a response. "Let's go over a general plan of action."

* * *

Nozomi watched as the others went about their day. Whatever happened the other day had been quickly detained as quickly as it arose. It barely lasted long but that was nothing too unusual in these parts, well, aside from the sound of the alarm being a bit different this time around.

"Ugh, morning." she turned to see Sora take the seat on the opposite side of the table and immediately slumped forward.

"Rough morning? Or rough night?"

Sora shifted slightly, enough for eye contact. "Rough everything..."

"You want to talk about it?" asked the older woman as Sora slowly but surely sat up properly, giving Nozomi a clear look of her face. A light frown had settled on Sora's face as she stretched back a bit.

"It's hard to even say, I don't even know the cause!" the light, bluish grey haired woman groaned. "It does feel a bit better now, though, but still..."

Only one person came to Nozomi's mind, "are you sure it's not Chie's doing?"

Sora shook her head. "After what happened to her last time, no. It's not and that's the problem!"

" _Huh._ " Nozomi hummed in thought, a bit surprised. "I thought she'd come back at you for revenge, she seems the type."

"Right?! You'd think after the beating she got, she'd come looking for revenge but no, haven't even seen her. I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed..."

"That's always a possibility," nodded the milky white skinned prisoner.

It was then that a timid voice had made itself known, like a squeaking mouse. "Morn...morning," the duo turned to see the younger prisoner, Koneko, waddle on over as she quickly sat down at the table.

"Morning," as Sora gave a half-assed wave, Nozomi just sent her a motherly smile, like always.

The woman with cat features made herself comfortable in her hood. "...are you okay, Sora?"

She got a groan from that.

"It's best not to touch on that subject right now," Nozomi jumped in as the trio now spent their time at the table in brief conversations.

"So," Sora coughed, looking around, "I see that Demelza isn't here. She was with me before, but now she's gone."

"Yes," Nodded Nozomi, "I wonder where she could be?" It was now her turn to slightly frown. She hoped that Demelza wasn't in trouble, she was still a fresh face in the prison after all.

Watching Nozomi lost in her thoughts, Koneko turned to the more energetic prisoner out of the three of them. "If...she was with you, you could retrace your steps?"

All Koneko got in return was a scoff, "I don't want to hunt her down, Koneko. It's not like some misplaced trinket that I put down and lost the next day."

"Sorry..."

Despite the conversation they were having, it was like Nozomi was in another world. " _So, if Sora was feeling irritation that wasn't being caused by Chie, then who?_ "

She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off until something clicked. " _Ashita and Yua had to talk about something after Chie was taken care of, they might know something about it._ "

"Earth to Nozomi!" the sudden shout from Sora had knocked the senses right back into her.

"Pardon?"

Sora huffed as the brown haired Koneko shyly asked, "did... you figure something out?"

"Hard to say," Nozomi closed her only visible eye that wasn't under the magnetic eyepatch she had to wear. "It's something that I-"

Before Nozomi could get a word in, Sora took over. "Well, as I _was_ saying, did you hear about what happened?"

"I can only gather that it was about the different alarm that went off the other day?"

Sora nodded, "seems that a prisoner went on a rampage. Apparently trying to break into the co-ed ward or rather, they did. Didn't last long though, at most whoever that bastard was, they didn't get far."

As Nozomi stared wide-eyed, Koneko just curled up into a ball, thankful that she was nowhere near the co-ed ward at that time.

If she was there...then what would happen? " _Would I..._ " she dug deeper into her seat, trying not to think too hard about it, but no matter how she tried to distract herself, the thought kept reappearing.

" _If I was there that day, I would have died._ "

She jumped once a hand gripped her shoulder, she even let out a squeak that made her reconsider if she even had a cat-type quirk. "You okay?" she looked up to see Sora's gaze.

Words escaped her, the only thing she could do was nod slowly.

"Don't force yourself to pretend like you're fine," said Nozomi as she stood. "Now, if you excuse me, there's something I want to check."

"Oh? Alright…?" Sora blinked, scratching the side of her head as the other inmate nodded after a minute.

As she walked away, Nozomi went back to her thoughts as she pursed her lips in thought as she made an effort to avoid the other prisoners.

She had questions, questions that only two other fellow inmates could help her with. Despite taking time to think things over, she couldn't jump to conclusions. There was no time to deal with them anyway.

She stopped suddenly once she spied Demelza in the distance, sitting at a table with Fushiko of all people who seemed to be going off about something while the masked inmate just nodded along, looking quite enraptured if it were for the mask she wore.

" _Wonder what they're talking about?_ " she found herself watching the two talk before Fushiko jumped up and dashed off somewhere with Demelza following behind.

"..."

Nozomi shook her head, even going as far as lightly slapping her cheek to snap her back to the task at hand.

" _Now, where can I find Yua or Ashita?_ "

* * *

"Seems the wall's repairs went smoothly," Alexios hummed as he looked over the wall that once had a giant hole in it. Those drones sure worked fast.

Good thing too.

After his inspection of the now stronger, sturdier wall, he continued on with his patrol. Ever since the event, prisoners seemed to be more subdued, more timid. Of course there were still the troublemakers that took the recent rampage as a sign to cause more destruction and chaos, but generally, things had been quite peaceful.

Asides from a few moments.

He couldn't help but smile as the prisoners went about their day, bettering themselves.

Alexios took this time to check up on some of the prisoners. Didn't want any of them to be at each other's throats. While he checked up on some prisoners, making sure they were keeping in line, he made a beeline to a certain prisoner who carried a now empty tray.

The inmate with those flame-emitting hands.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, seeing a smile appear on the prisoner's face.

"I think I'm doing well."

Alexios returned the smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

Suddenly, the inmate's face lit up. "I have to thank you for the help earlier, it really meant a lot."

"Don't worry about it. Consider that a reward for your hard work up to now. Keep up the good work."

Just as Alexios was about to keep on walking, the prisoner shifted somewhat.

"Hey," the prisoner spoke up, softly enough that he could have missed it. "I was wondering..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"...nevermind. I need to get going, this tray isn't going to return itself."

With that, the prisoner had disappeared into the crowd of orange jumpsuits and black and white striped uniforms.

Just about as he was going to continue his patrol, yet another prisoner caught his eye.

He spotted an inmate in the distance, sitting alone outside. It wasn't that uncommon to see prisoners alone, but it was the far off look in his eyes that caught Alexios' attention.

" _Isn't that the new inmate from a couple of months ago?_ " thought the olive-skinned guard as he began his approach. "Inmate Spade. Are you feeling alright?"

Johnny snapped back to reality with a jump as he locked eyes with the guard.

"I'm sorry if I scared you there," Alexios' laugh eased the sudden stiff caution that etched itself on the inmate's face. "I couldn't help but notice you just staring off into space. Is everything alright?"

The young convict turned back to the view, the wide open sky covered in patches of soft, white clouds. "I don't really know. I guess everything has been building up recently."

"It must be tough, you're still quite young after all."

"Please don't remind me."

Alexios shook his head, "I don't mean anything bad by it. I might not be the prisoner's counsellor, but feel free to just talk your heart out. If you really need it, I can get you an appointment with them."

Johnny sighed, unsure what to do. "Well, if you must know, just recently I got into an argument with some of the other inmates. They...they weren't really planning anything good, stuff like group wars or something."

"Ah. So a clash of two small groups, I heard about that."

"Yeah, while it was dealt with, we didn't really see eye to eye when I tried to stop them. It just makes me think about my mistakes... and how I ended up here." he sighed, "I guess it's like they said. I have no moral high ground, I'm a prisoner too."

It was now Alexios' turn to look at the clouds. "There's a lot of mistakes we make in the world. The fact that you're reflecting is a sign of improvement for your rehabilitation."

"Even if I was sent to Styx?"

The guard just grinned, "doesn't matter what prison you were sent to, you can still turn things around. It struck us as odd for you to be sent here at first, Ace of Spades. Your record is more suited for a regular prison, but I can see why you were sent here."

Johnny flinched, "I don't think I can handle hearing any of those...can you please stop talking about that too?"

"Besides," the beige haired man continued, "you're not the only one in the same situation. There's a few others that are in your predicament."

"Really?"

"Absolutely! There's one inmate in the female ward that is reflecting on something similar. They committed a crime and are reflecting on themselves with their guilt or rather they are atoning for their crime instead. A great sign of rehabilitation."

The american prisoner rubbed the back of his neck. "You're really keen on the whole rehabilitation thing, huh?"

When Johnny looked up, he locked eyes with the guard's stunning electric blue eyes.

"I want to see inmates like you rise and better yourself, to become the people you can be proud to become."

Johnny could believe what he was hearing. It sounded too good to be true, but…

"Is there a point though? Wouldn't I just be sent back here even after I leave? There's no way I'd be accepted back to society."

The blue eyed guard shook his head. "While that is true, let me tell you a story. There was once a prisoner that freely walked these halls, his life was one of many troubles. All because of his quirk. There was only so many times that the world would give him a pass, but for the safety of others, he was deemed too dangerous to live."

" _Is this supposed to be uplifting?_ " Johnny frowned, focusing on the clouds instead.

"It didn't change that he was a good man, an innocent one at that. There was still hope for him, but that hope is something that only he could decide." he sighed. "Sometimes, support is also needed."

Soon the story fell silent as Johnny waited for more of a story that wouldn't come. "That's enough of that story though, you catch the main point, right?"

Johnny nodded, causing the slightly muscular guard to grin. "Perfect." Alexios stretched as he looked back to the inmate, holding out his hand. "I believe you can get through this rehabilitation."

Not knowing what to do, Johnny reached out. "Thank you."

* * *

Hokori titled his head as he followed the monocle-wearing guard, Shimaru, down the hall. "So...where are we heading?"

The guard, who carried himself more like a butler, chuckled. "The cafeteria."

"Oh." Hokori didn't really understand, after all, he had already checked out the cafeteria.

Noticing that he was falling behind, the smaller of the two guards quickly increased his pace to catch up. "I suppose you're wondering why we're heading back, are you not?" Shimaru asked, looking down towards the fox-eared rookie. "After all, this isn't your first time there."

"A little," replied the fox. "Are we going to make that loaf stuff?"

That got a chuckle out of the guard. "No, at least, not today." the gentleman patted the fox on the shoulder. "I believe there's someone you need to meet."

Hokori tilted his head. "Hm?"

As the rookie wondered who he had yet to meet in the kitchen, he continued to follow Shimaru until they reached their destination. All Hokori could think of until then was, " _is it the cooks?_ " no one else sprung to mind, the kitchen was empty save for Osamu, Tai and him last time.

When they arrived, Shimaru scoped out the area. "Now, try not to bother any of the cooks while they're working," when he saw Hokori nod, he gestured for the fox to follow, "now, let's introduce yourself to the staff."

Now, walking around a working kitchen, Hokori watched the cooks get to work as Shimaru talked, "now, as you know, we have three main wards when it comes to Styx. The male ward, female ward and the co-ed ward. However, the more, shall we say, quality ingredients are used for the co-ed ward."

"Oh! I think Osamu talked about that briefly, I think..." the fennec fox quirked guard tapped his foot, "ah! Yeah, he mentioned how we'd have to help work with meals from time to time and that the co-ed ward has somewhat better food and they can get some other snacks."

"That's correct, good job." the older guard clapped. "Now, as I was saying, with three wards, the kitchens can be quite busy, but they manage to get food out for our incarcerated guests."

Hokori scratched the back of his neck as he watched the cooks go about the kitchen while the two guards hanged back. "With three wards, it does sounds difficult..."

Shimaru nodded as he cleaned his monocle with a clean, white handkerchief that he pulled from his pocket with the pair of white, butler gloves he wore. "Indeed."

"Wasn't there someone I was supposed to meet? The way you worded it sounded like there was someone specific."

The older guard grinned, "once again, good job. Remember what I said about three wards? Someone has to keep the busy kitchen in control." Shimaru took delight in the 'O' shape that Hokori made with his mouth. It was like the final puzzle piece was figured out. "Speak of the devil, he's here."

Turning his head around, faster than he thought he had anticipated. Seeing that Hokori had seen the other cooks, he would have an easy time seeing just who the head cook was. However, it was a bit too easy as they entered the room. He completely stood out!

But that was mostly due to their appearance, whether that was from their quirk or a trait from their parents.

This man was of average height compared to cooks within the kitchen, definitely taller than him that was for sure. While the outfit wasn't the first thing that drew Hokori's attention, the head cook of Styx wore an outfit similar to the other cooks.

The cooks of Styx wore white uniforms. The standard white chef jacket with matching white pants, it was quite simple as it lacked both hats and aprons. The head cook's uniform only had one difference, its colour. Instead of being white, it was black.

Though, what really stuck out was his appearance. Well, he definitely had a humanoid appearance, that was for sure. Instead of having the flesh of a man, it was that of an insect. While most of his body was hidden behind the cooking uniform, his arms and legs were definitely a combination of human and insect, though the only real human part was that the hands looked to be more modelled after a human with fingers and thumbs, the feet however, not so much.

His natural appearance was that of a bug or perhaps a bug's exoskeleton, either way, to Hokori it didn't really matter. He was unsure of what kind of insect the cook was, maybe an ant? He didn't want to ask, that would just be rude.

The cook did have a set of mandibles and two large compound eyes as their skin or exoskeleton seemed to be a darkish green shade.

It was then that the head cook headed towards them once he took notice. "Hokori, meet Myrmex, the head cook of Styx."

"Nice to meet you," the polite little fox bowed.

The insectoid bowed in turn, "it's a pleasure." the chef's mandibles clattered together. "As Shimaru might have told you, I'm the guy who keeps these cooks in line when making the main meals for the prisoners. Hm, perhaps I'll see you in the kitchen later if you're ever tasked with the nightly meals."

"Nightly meals? Like the nutraloaf stuff?"

"Sort of," the cook began, "that's always a part of it, but you could also be tasked with that in the day. Rather, in Styx, we have a few nocturnal prisoners, but compared to the daywalkers, it's not that many to handle."

It was then that Shimaru jumped in. "Did you know that the cooks also help make some meals for the guards too here and there?"

"Whoa, you must be a master chef then!"

"Hahaha, while there's a lot of work to be done, I wouldn't say that I'm a master." Myrmex chuckled.

A sudden clap got the rookie's attention. "Okay, that's enough time meeting the cooks, it's time to get back to work. We'll be off now, Myrmex."

"Roger!" saluted the fox and before they knew it, they were long gone from the kitchen.

* * *

When Osamu opened his eyes, the world was incredibly blurry, just like last time. The taste of iron was still fresh in his mouth, though the pain he once had the last time he opened his eyes had thankfully passed.

He looked around the infirmary, or at least the guard infirmary. A sigh escaped his lips as he noticed the glass of water on the nearby side table right as the world started to come into focus. Finally, his lenses were being cleaned!

At least, that's what it felt like.

Reaching for the glass to parch his throat, he winced a little at a sudden spark of pain. Seems he still wasn't fully recovered...damn.

"Osamu!" the door to the infirmary swung open. It almost made him jump, it would have made him jump if he wasn't pushed back down into the comfortable bed. Still hurt though. Looking over to whoever rushed him, he caught the sight of the familiar, messy, ultra violet hair. "You...you had me worried there...I'm glad you're okay."

"Muika…"

When she leaned back, it gave him some breathing room but that was at the cost of seeing her round, droopy red eyes brimming with tears. While his body wasn't feeling the pain like before, a new pain replaced it.

"I...I thought..."

He immediately silenced her, "it's okay. I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you." all he could hear was her sniffles as the growing silence was starting to become a bit awkward for him. He never really thought over this kind of scenario…

I mean, why should he? He didn't really expect to be in this situation.

" _Come on Osamu, break the ice or something. Maybe lighten the mood?_ " Shifting in his bed, he brought out the brightest smile that he could, "I hope I wasn't out for long."

"...it's been a couple of days..." the way she carried that tone, like she was trying to walk on a tightrope, really hit him hard with just how long it might have been as the tears started to fall. "I didn't think you would ever wake up. I thought..."

"I'm sorry." That was all he had as she wiped her eyes. "You...must have stayed up worrying, didn't you? I'm sorry."

Muika slowly nodded, her purple painted nails dug into the pristine, white sheets. "How about you tell me about your days?" her brother quickly changed the subject. "I hope you didn't cause another spillage...again." he forced out a fake little giggled that just caused her to grip the sheets tighter.

"...I messed up again." she sniffled once more. Oh no. "I accidentally spilt a cup of hot chocolate on today's report, so I have to do that again. I also knocked over one of Yukiko's tea cups, shattering it...not to mention losing-"

"Best not to dwell on it," Osamu found himself interrupting as the tears rolled down his sister's face. " _Better apologise to the wardens and that later-_ "

He lunged forward, coughing harder than he thought he could. It felt like his body was trying to force out a lung. "Osamu!"

After what felt like a minute of coughing violently, the elder Yomaura sibling managed to ease back down with a wince. "Seems the pain didn't completely go away...haha..."

Muika however, was the same as she was a moment ago, if not worse. So Osamu held his breath, with a hand on her shoulder. His display a moment ago must have looked pretty bad. If it were her in this bed, instead of him, he would probably be in tears too, especially after that display.

"Let it all out," he breathed out, as he moved on to pat her head as her face was now buried into the mattress as she let loose, her sobbing muffled by the bed as she wet the sheets.

What a terrible older brother he was. Making his sister cry. How horrible.

* * *

There were many activities for the prisoners to do within Styx, some were time wasters of course, but others provided them with a purpose. Activities that meant that they would contribute to society instead of just wasting time within their god forsaken cells until the day they were transferred back to a lower security prison, released entirely when their sentence is met or die due to varying reasons.

One of these activities was the woodwork course.

Standing at one of the desks was Juro. The inmate tapped on the desk as they looked around the shop. There were a few other prisoners, some willingly here while others...not so much.

Standing at the front was a prisoner that Juro only saw here and there.

He was wearing the regular orange jumpsuit and would have just been some nameless nobody if it weren't for the shades he wore for some reason despite being indoors, but more notably his skin.

Sandpaper.

"Hey, stop shoving there, officer." Juro turned to see Zuko shoved by some tall guard into the room. "Be a bit more gentle, at _least_." he ended with a wink.

All the guard did in response to Zuko's 'kind' advice was to kick the clouded eyed inmate into a desk. "Work for once in your life, inmate."

It didn't catch only Juro's attention though, but Arai who stood at the main woodworking desk like a teacher would, the other guards sprinkled throughout the room and the other inmates.

All eyes were currently on Zuko.

" _Bastard..._ " the scarred convict thought as he caught the guard's disgusting smirk. It was like that bastard was taunting him! When he finally realised that everyone was watching him, he silently groaned.

"Good of you to join us, Zuko." came the polite voice of Touya, as he stood at another desk.

Zuko just rolled his eyes as Arai coughed. "Hey, now that everyone is here, welcome to the woodwork course. Where you contribute back to society, etc, etc." he prattled on. "We all know how this goes, so let's get on with it."

The sandpaper skinned man picked up a block of wood as he immediately started to rub his palm over the rough surface. "For those of us just joining however, the newbies, what you want to do is just run your hand over the edges to smooth them down," he placed the now smoother block back on the desk, like some demonstration piece. "If you don't have a quirk like mine, then you're stuck using the tools provided. I was also told by the guards to inform you, yet again, that you shouldn't try any funny business."

It was then that Juro shot a look towards Zuko in that regard.

Seems that he wasn't the only one to send a look his way. What an example.

"Don't waste daylight, get to work." a guard called out as the prisoners got to work on the provided wood, working on whatever.

As they worked, Zuko popped his head up. "I'm surprised the newbies aren't here. I thought they would be."

"Well, considering how one of the new inmates in our ward is in the infirmary, I doubt they'd let him come."

"And the other two?" Zuko's voice was as smooth as ever as Touya shrugged.

"They are still quite fresh in the prison, perhaps they have them working elsewhere instead?"

Juro listened in as they worked on their leg post, it was coming along smoothly. They did debate entering the conversation though as the two continued to just chat.

Not their fault if they got caught chatting more than working.

"Stop gossiping and get back to work, you two!" came the bored tone of one of the guards stationed at the rear of the room.

Juro couldn't help but mentally scoff as they were caught chatting. How timely.

"Now, once you're done smoothing down the edges, we'll continue onto the next step, keep up."

Juro huffed as they got back to work, narrowing their eyes as Zuko glanced around the room, with a slow, growing smirk.

For now though, it wasn't their problem.

* * *

"Care to run that by me again?" Seimei asked, looking at the stoic guard dog as she saluted.

"With some recommendations on some of the inmates, I've chosen three inmates to help look into the problem with the third party speculation when it came to the recent murder that happened a while ago."

The male warden leaned back from the hunched over position on his desk. "That's unlike you," Seimei mumbled. "We're more than equipped to handle this ourselves. What purpose do they serve in this search?"

"To help shave time off the search, sir."

Standing from his chair, the warden walked around the desk. "I suppose it would help to have some insiders look around for clues..."

Shi's eyes widened with a sudden thought. "Sir, about the murder-"

Seimei was already on it, "as you already know, since we have the murderer's identity we're currently looking into how he escaped his cell. Right now, Eris is leading the interrogation on Vito on how he escaped and hopefully that will shed some light on this mystery." he calmly stated, turning back around to face the jackal headed guard.

Eris. It didn't look good for Vito then. Out of everyone in Styx, she was the one to get any answers out of anyone without too much difficulty, really.

"However, there is a chance that there might be some inmates that might know something that Vito might not, so while she's screening Vito and some other high profile inmates, I shall leave your selected prisoners to search around Styx."

"Understood sir."

Seimei headed back to his seat, "and I assume you're gonna try and join the search on top of your guard duties?"

"Yes."

The loyal guard dog watched as the male warden rubbed his temple with a sigh. "Very well, then proceed with your shift."

Nodding, the jackal was about to leave the room if he wasn't for the warden's sudden call.

"One last thing, Shi."

"Sir?"

Seimei smiled as he rested his arms on the desk, his entwined hands almost hiding the smile. "Next time, please inform Eris or I before you go ahead with these plans. I know you mean well, but please consider it."

The guard dog bowed. "My apologies."

"It's fine. I wish you luck in your search."

While there was no certainty that Shi and her selected convicts would be able to find something related to this mysterious third party, especially with Eris' interrogation, he'd wish them luck if finding at least a sliver of information that could help shave time off, as Shi had put it.

It just had to happen now. That thought would have made him frown if it wasn't for the muscular guard still standing in the room. For now, he'll wait and compose his thoughts later.

With a silent salute, Styx's Cerberus left as Seimei turned his gaze downwards to the desk and the papers that were left on it.

There was still the matter of the bodies that they needed to deal with.

"Time to get back to work then."

* * *

Eris walked through the hallways, on her way to the solitary confinement cells. The place was mostly empty, asides from a couple of other guards that paused slightly to send a nod or salute her way.

Compared to the main wards, this place was a lot emptier in comparison, of course there were some other cells in use, some with grand locks, warning signs and some other details and precautions.

It wasn't long until she approached the cell she was after. The two guards stationed in front of the cell gave her a salute. "Ma'am!"

"At ease. I'm here to interrogate the prisoner."

The two guards stepped aside, "we'll open the cell then." As they went to work on opening the cell, she took this time to look over the clipboard she had received early.

The clipboard was full of the latest interrogation's details, Vito's answers about his recent escapades. Claiming that he had 'broke' out of his cell when it clearly wasn't damaged among other things.

When the cell opened, the prisoner within was slumped against the wall, unable to move thanks to his snazzy new straitjacket. Though, it seemed he didn't have the energy to do it either.

"Seems I have the pleasure of meeting the other warden. Welcome to my humble abode, it's a bit cramped but what can you do when you have shitty landlords?"

The eyepatched woman frowned as she hissed, "silence." she held up her clipboard, Vito's name clearly visible at the top in red ink. "Now, I got some answers from some questions here, of course, mostly clearly told lies."

"So you're here for more?"

She nodded as she reached for her eyepatch. "I'm here to get the real answers out of you."

What surprised her was the prisoner before her said. "Fine. I got nothing to hide anymore."

Well that made her job easier.

The more she looked at the straitjacket wearing man, the more he seemed different from when he was captured. Still, there was no telling if he was truly going to tell her everything or hide it.

"So what do you want to know?"

"I'll be the one handling the questions here," she reached for her eyepatch one more time. "I still don't trust you to tell the truth completely. So you will tell me everything about your releases, _all_ of them."

She kept a good eye on the convict as he tensed at that last part. " _Knew it._ " she thought. Ah well, even if he was going to hide something from her, she knew he couldn't. She will get everything out of him.

Vito continued to stare at the warden, finding it incredibly hard to look away as all she had to say was...

"You cannot hide anything from me, so tell me everything."


End file.
